Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Minimum wage up to £5.52 an hour
The national minimum wage is to rise by 17p - about 3% - from £5.35 to £5.52 an hour from October 2007. The rate for workers aged 18-21 will rise by 15p to £4.60 an hour, while workers aged 16 and 17 will get a 10p rise to £3.40 an hour. The increases will affect 1.3 million workers and are in line with inflation. The Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling, rejected a recommendation that 21-year-olds should receive the full adult rate of £5.52 an hour, saying that such a move could damage their job prospects.
Read the full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6425965.stm
The UK minimum wage was first introduced in 1999, amid concerns that such a move will jeopardise the employment prospects of the lower-paid segment of the workforce (e.g. young employees). This should occur because if the government arbitrarily imposes a national real wage that is higher than the one that equilibrates the labour market, then employers would find it costly to hire low-skilled labour.
The much acclaimed new interactive learning package LiveEcon can help you understand the economics behind these important policy events. Chapters 7 and 16 at principles and intermediate level, respectively, describe the workings of the labour market, in particular how the real wage (W/P) affects the supply and demand for labour. Find out how to get LiveEcon at http://www.liveecon.com/. Download this blog as a Blogcast via the website.
The national minimum wage is to rise by 17p - about 3% - from £5.35 to £5.52 an hour from October 2007. The rate for workers aged 18-21 will rise by 15p to £4.60 an hour, while workers aged 16 and 17 will get a 10p rise to £3.40 an hour. The increases will affect 1.3 million workers and are in line with inflation. The Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling, rejected a recommendation that 21-year-olds should receive the full adult rate of £5.52 an hour, saying that such a move could damage their job prospects.
Read the full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6425965.stm
The UK minimum wage was first introduced in 1999, amid concerns that such a move will jeopardise the employment prospects of the lower-paid segment of the workforce (e.g. young employees). This should occur because if the government arbitrarily imposes a national real wage that is higher than the one that equilibrates the labour market, then employers would find it costly to hire low-skilled labour.
The much acclaimed new interactive learning package LiveEcon can help you understand the economics behind these important policy events. Chapters 7 and 16 at principles and intermediate level, respectively, describe the workings of the labour market, in particular how the real wage (W/P) affects the supply and demand for labour. Find out how to get LiveEcon at http://www.liveecon.com/. Download this blog as a Blogcast via the website.
# posted by Kostas @ 15:44 
