Chancellor George Osborne has warned against a rise in the minimum wage by 50p, claiming it could “cost jobs”.
Ed Miliband’s plan – announced this weekend – to try and “Make Work Pay” by incentivising businesses to pay the Living Wage is one that should be welcomed, but it does not go far enough.
Hard work is the way to lift your family out of poverty, or so some would have you believe. However, the reality in modern Britain is that as wages continue to fall behind inflation – people simply do not earn enough to escape poverty.
Chancellor George Osborne has unveiled a controversial plan to extend the “work for benefits” scheme where the long-term unemployed would need to take up work placements in return for their benefits.
The government have announced that the national minimum wage is to rise by 12p an hour to £6.31 for adults and by 5p to £5.03 for 18-to-20-year-olds from October.