Jim McMahon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim McMahon on 2016-02-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what formula was used to calculate the Government’s proposed living wage.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government has asked the Low Pay Commission to increase the National Living Wage to 60% of median earnings by 2020. This is a level consistent with the recommendations of leading experts in the Bain Report. Our target is for the National Living Wage to reach £9 by 2020.

On this basis, we have set the initial rate at £7.20 from April 2016. This marks the first step towards our target and represents a £900 a year increase in earnings for a full-time worker on the National Minimum Wage.