As of 1st October 2015, the powers that be decided that everyone in the UK deserved a little pay rise in the annual re-draft of the National Minimum Wage – hurrah! However, a little extra payment will also come by April 2016 with the implementation of a new National Living Wage in the UK to the tune of £7.20 – double hurrah! These extra coppers in the kitty apply just to those of you that are aged 25 and over, but those under 24 years old will still enjoy the increase to their National Minimum Wage. Considering everyone is only getting older however, that little bit extra is definitely something to look forward to in the future. Who knows, by the time some of us are due to hit the quarter century mark, to quote a well-known Mr Delboy Trotter; “This time next year, we’ll be millionaires!”
Now, let’s keep a good thing going and look at the benefits of this increase. The amendments to the National Living Wage from April 2016 have made it a mandatory amount where in the past it was an informal benchmark number. But hold on – there’s more! We as a country love to support the underdog, and the government argues that those in full time employment in a lower earnings bracket should be better off with an expected increase in yearly earnings of around £2000; not something to be scoffed at!
So let’s boil all of this down into something easy to digest. The overall aim of this move is that there will come a point where we can declare we are a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare society where the majority are better off. Essentially, workers are paid more, and will retain more of those earnings – simple and effective! And with a proposed rise to £9 by 2020, we can all join in a brief chorus of D:Ream’s Things can Only Get Better for the years to come.
