Low Pay in UK – 236,000 jobs with pay less than the National Minimum Wage finds ONS

This release presents statistics on the number of jobs with pay less than the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in the UK.

The NMW is a minimum amount per hour that most workers in the UK are entitled to be paid. There are different rates of NMW depending on a worker’s age and whether they are an apprentice. In April 2014 the NMW rates were: £6.31 for employees aged 21 and over; £5.03 for employees aged 18 to 20; £3.72 for employees aged 16 to 17; and £2.68 for apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over who are in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Key points

• Based on a new methodology which accounts for the apprentice National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate, there were 236,000 jobs with pay less than the NMW held by employees aged 16 and over in April 2014. This constituted 0.9% of UK employee jobs.
• There were 9,000 jobs held by 16 to 17-year-olds (2.7% of jobs in this age group) with pay less than the NMW.
• For 18 to 20-year-olds, there were 31,000 jobs (2.9% of jobs in this age group) with pay less than the NMW.
• For employees aged 21 and over, there were 196,000 jobs (0.8% of jobs in this age group) with pay less than the NMW.
• Based on the previous methodology, which did not account for the apprentice NMW rate, there were 309,000 jobs (1.2% of UK employee jobs) with pay less than the NMW held by employees aged 16 and over in April 2014. This is up from 280,000 (1.1% of jobs) in April 2013.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Low Pay, April 2014 – ONS.