The minimum wage has risen less for the youngest workers than for older workers – as the latest employment figures show, average wages are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living.
As a BBC Young Reporter, I wanted to delve deeper into this based on my own experiences at work.
I’ve had part-time jobs since I was 15, often with minimum wage. As a younger employee, this meant that I was paid less than my older colleagues – even for the same job.
I find that really unfair and I don’t think younger people always feel like they can stand up for themselves at work.
It’s a problem that some of my friends say they’ve experienced too.
“It’s frustrating,” says 15-year-old Isabella, who left her job at a restaurant because she made less than her colleagues – the only difference being that she couldn’t serve alcohol.
“It was a small place and we all did the same thing but for different amounts,” she says.
- From April 2022, everyone over the age of 23 will be entitled to the National Living Wage of £9.50 per hour.
- If you’re 21 or 22, you’ll be paid a minimum of £9.18 an hour
- Under 21 but over 18, and it drops to £6.83 an hour
- And those aged 16-18 or in their first year of apprenticeship are entitled to £4.81 an hour.
Isabella was paid minimum wage – at the time £4.62 an hour for those under 18 earning an hour.”
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that since 2016, minimum wages have risen less for under-20s than for older workers.
In April, the minimum wage for under-18s rose to £4.81 an hour, a 24% increase from the 2016 rate of £3.87 an hour.
But for 21 and 22 year olds, it increased by 37% from £6.70 to £9.18 an hour over the same period. And it rose by 42% to £9.50 an hour for 23 and 24 year olds.
This older cohort has received what is known as the National Living Wage since 2017. Originally for those over 25, it has been extended to all workers over 23, and there are plans to lower the threshold further to 21 by 2024.
Later this month, the Low Pay Commission – an independent body that advises the government – will make its recommendations on what minimum wage rates should apply for next year. The commission says its job is to boost pay for younger workers as much as possible without hurting their job prospects.
Richard Davies, Professor of Public Understanding of Economics at Bristol University, tells me this is important because “if you’re unemployed for a long time when you’re young, it can affect you for the rest of your life”.
He also explains that the lower minimum wage for young people is also “based on the idea that they will have fewer skills and be less productive than older workers”, adding that there is also an expectation that young people will get something back.
“The deal is that if you go to work, you get trained too. So the company gives you something – and that makes it fair that they pay you a little less.”
That’s certainly something Nick Collins believes his Loungers store offers.
More than 6,000 people work for the bar and restaurant chain – and 40% are under the age of 21.
“We all used to pay the same,” he says. “But as the National Living Wage started to go up, it became less affordable for us.”
New employees joining his company are now paid less if they’re under 18 or under 21, but he says they can “progress quickly” and once they’re in higher positions, they’re paid the same regardless of age will.
“We agonized over it a lot, we didn’t like doing it,” he says, adding that all under-18s and under-21s make at least £8 an hour – more than minimum wage.
But Mr Collins concedes that hospitality is becoming more difficult to attract and retain staff – in competition with sectors like retail where working hours can be more sociable and pay higher.
“I’d love to pay everyone more, but we just couldn’t keep up,” he tells me.
I now work in a supermarket where I make over £10 an hour. Everyone there is paid the same regardless of age, including my school friend Tabitha, who also works there.
She quit a job at a bowling alley where she was paid minimum wage.
“It was awful,” she says. “The pay didn’t match the work we had to do – there was a lot of stress.”
“The older folks were working the bar, standing around and chatting, and the younger folks running around, very busy trying to make sure jobs were getting done.”
As for asking for a raise, Tabitha says that “just doesn’t happen when you’re that young,” adding that “nobody takes you seriously.”
But that can change.
As the latest figures show the unemployment rate at its lowest level in almost 50 years, Institute for Employment Studies’ Tony Wilson says young people are “voting with their feet”.
“We have the highest number of job changes that we have ever seen,” he says. “That prompts employers to try and treat people better in terms of pay and fairness at work.”
So is there an argument for paying everyone equally, regardless of age? Maybe not everyone, says Tony Wilson.
“My concern would be that if employers had to pay 16 and 17 year olds £9.50 an hour, they just wouldn’t do it,” he tells me.
“But by the time you get to be 18, 19 or 20, I think it’s harder to pay people £6 an hour when their peers are getting £9 an hour.”
A spokesman for the Department for Enterprise, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “While we know that the priority for younger workers in these early years is to secure work and gain experience, we are nonetheless committed to ensuring that it is paid appropriately.”
You can find stories from other young people on the BBC Young Reporter website.
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