Boris Johnson announces plans to raise minimum wage by 6.2% from April

Britain’s minimum wage is to increase by more than four times the rate of UK inflation from next year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government announced Tuesday.

 

A 6.2-per cent increase from April takes the so-called national living wage for workers aged 25 and over from £8.21 to a minimum £8.72 ($10.79 to $11.52, 9.63 euros to 10.27 euros).

 

Johnson, whose Conservative party's recent general election victory came with support from economically struggling pro-Brexit areas, said it was the biggest increase since 2016. The new government said almost three million people would benefit from the increase. UK annual inflation stands at 1.5 per cent, with consumers’ purchasing power under pressure from higher import prices following the EU referendum in 2016, which has weighed on the pound.