The National Minimum Wage should rise to £15 an hour “as soon as possible”, according to Trades Union Congress (TUC).
Currently, the National Minimum Wage is £9.50 an hour for workers over the age of 23 and £9.18 for 21 and 22-year-olds, but the TUC believes the minimum wage rate should apply to workers of all ages.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: “Every worker should be able to afford a decent standard of living.
“But millions of low-paid workers live wage packet to wage packet, struggling to get by – and they are now being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices.”
In response, the government told the BBC that it was “determined to make work pay” and that this year’s increase in the minimum wage in April was the largest ever rise. It added that setting the National Minimum Wage too high or increasing it too quickly could lead to higher unemployment.
