Adult minimum wage to rise by 19p per hour

makeyourdaddyproud

But a lower wage rate make Britain more competitive in the EU?

Nick_C

I suppose a higher minimum wage would mean we would have even more migrant workers coming to the UK!

patman99

At least we have the protection of NMW. Germany does not, and as a result, has jobs where people earn as little as 1 Euro an hour.

The biggest mistake that was made with regards to WTC & CTC was that in the first place it was paid through the wage packet so that the employer knew exactly what his staff were getting paid in benefits, thus enabling him to save money by giving said employee a lower payrise (or none at all).

If it had been paid direct into the claimant's Bank account, then the employer would have been non the wiser.

makeyourdaddyproud

On the face of it, the NMW does afford some protection - and is currently rising. Yes, there will be employers that will exploit the system, but ONLY at the NMW for it to be legitimate.

The NMW is not that great, but if you do 40hrs, that is still circa £260 a week. If you have no mortgage and low expectations from a consumerist standpoint like us, it is at least liveable. Britain isn't so bad if German employers can get away with a Euro per hour, as asserted above.

tomtontom

Nick_C wrote: »

But if tax credits did not exist (and they have been around for a long time, it was previously Family Income Supplement), people wouldn't accept jobs paying NMW. They wouldn't be able to afford to live on such low wages.

NMW is more than sufficient to live on outside London and the south.

trollopscarletwoman

tomtontom wrote: »

NMW is more than sufficient to live on outside London and the south.

Is it?

Are you assuming that most employers give unlimited hours. Not the reality for most.

trollopscarletwoman

makeyourdaddyproud wrote: »

On the face of it, the NMW does afford some protection - and is currently rising. Yes, there will be employers that will exploit the system, but ONLY at the NMW for it to be legitimate.

The NMW is not that great, but if you do 40hrs, that is still circa £260 a week. If you have no mortgage and low expectations from a consumerist standpoint like us, it is at least liveable. Britain isn't so bad if German employers can get away with a Euro per hour, as asserted above.

Well, I do have a mortgage.

A lot of the time you don't get 40 hours.

mattcanary

tomtontom wrote: »

I work with several small businesses, and tax credits/ state benefits do not come into the conversation when wages are being reviewed. All the employers ask is what is the minimum we can pay to recruit/ retain the staff we need? The answer is minimum wage, and would be lower if NMW did not exist. If workers want higher wages they should improve their skills set accordingly.

Therefore, by your argument -- NMW was not a bad idea.

makeyourdaddyproud

All one has to do is be there, do the job paid to do for 40 hrs - it doesn't even need any grey matter and you get £260ish and pay minuscule tax.

trollopscarletwoman

makeyourdaddyproud wrote: »

All one has to do is be there, do the job paid to do for 40 hrs - it doesn't even need any grey matter and you get £260ish and pay minuscule tax.

Once again-many of us don't get 40 hours.

Seasonal work-zero hour contracts-as and when required, the list goes on.