Figures released on Tuesday show nearly one-in-six 18 to 24-year-olds are unemployed.
The government’s plan to equalise the minimum wage for younger and older workers has ‘not changed’, a minister has insisted, after doubts were raised due to youth unemployment figures.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has said there has been no U-turn on Labour’s manifesto pledge to “remove the discriminatory age bands” in the minimum wage system.
Her comments come after reports that the promise was under review, amid fears the higher cost of employing young people could put off firms from hiring them.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday morning, the minister insisted the government’s position “has not changed”.
Labour came to power promising to equalise the minimum wage for all adults before the next election – a departure from the current rates, which allow young workers to be paid less than their older colleagues.
Some have warned that a wage increase for young people could cause a surge in unemployment, as recruiters might decide to hire older, more experienced candidates.
UK Minimum Wage Rates
21 and over: £12.21 (£12.71 from April)
18-20: £10 (£10.85 from April)
Under 18: £7.55 (£8 from April)
Apprentices: £7.55 (£8 from April)
Figures released on Tuesday show nearly one-in-six 18 to 24-year-olds are unemployed.
The figures represent the highest level of youth unemployment in a decade, with business groups warning ministers they are “pricing a generation of young people out of the workplace”.
Reform UK MP Richard Tice told LBC the party would consider lowering pay floors for inexperienced 16-24-year-olds, arguing recent hikes have priced them out of work entirely.
He told Ben Kentish: “Young people, by definition, they’re learning, they’re being trained, they might be on an apprenticeship or whatever, and that’s a natural part of the evolution of gaining experience in the workplace. And that’s a great thing.
“The evidence is crystal clear that now employers are actively disincentivised from employing young people.
“What a catastrophe. How stupid can anybody be?”
Asked whether Reform would cut the minimum wage for young people to get more of them into work, Mr Tice said the party will be talking about it over the coming weeks.
He said: ‘”We’ve got to relook at it. The evidence is immediately there within a matter of six to nine months.”
