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| Think young people are better off on the ‘national living wage’? Ask Anthony | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| George Osborne may be basking in the introduction of his “national living wage” but for 23-year-old Anthony – and all the under-25s cut out from the pay rise – it’s another kick by a government that is abandoning young people. | George Osborne may be basking in the introduction of his “national living wage” but for 23-year-old Anthony – and all the under-25s cut out from the pay rise – it’s another kick by a government that is abandoning young people. |
| Anthony, from Bromley, works in a London warehouse. When the new minimum wage of £7.20 came into effect for workers over 25, Anthony watched as, overnight, older colleagues became entitled to a higher wage for doing the same job as him. “It’s discrimination against young, hard workers,” Anthony says. “I’ve been working all week while men in their 30s still haven’t come back from their Easter holiday.” | Anthony, from Bromley, works in a London warehouse. When the new minimum wage of £7.20 came into effect for workers over 25, Anthony watched as, overnight, older colleagues became entitled to a higher wage for doing the same job as him. “It’s discrimination against young, hard workers,” Anthony says. “I’ve been working all week while men in their 30s still haven’t come back from their Easter holiday.” |
| In a blatant display of this new raw deal for young workers, as soon as the “national living wage” came in, Anthony had his pay reduced. “I was already getting £7.20 an hour … I’m now on £6.70. It’s been cut just because I’m 23 and not 25,” he says. “I’m getting less for doing the same job [I was before]. I feel so worthless.” | In a blatant display of this new raw deal for young workers, as soon as the “national living wage” came in, Anthony had his pay reduced. “I was already getting £7.20 an hour … I’m now on £6.70. It’s been cut just because I’m 23 and not 25,” he says. “I’m getting less for doing the same job [I was before]. I feel so worthless.” |
| That the national living wage (NLW) is not an actual living wage – the amount a fulltime worker needs to afford a decent standard of living – shows how hollow the Conservative policy is. Rename all sheds “national detached properties” and it doesn’t mean the housing crisis has been solved. But in choosing to exclude under-25s from the policy, the government appears content to stop young workers earning even a higher minimum wage. Contrast this with its response to the news that “shadow” domestic workers, like cleaners, gardeners and car washers – paid cash-in-hand by middle-class households – are likely to miss out on the NLW. An investigation was immediately launched to look into it. | That the national living wage (NLW) is not an actual living wage – the amount a fulltime worker needs to afford a decent standard of living – shows how hollow the Conservative policy is. Rename all sheds “national detached properties” and it doesn’t mean the housing crisis has been solved. But in choosing to exclude under-25s from the policy, the government appears content to stop young workers earning even a higher minimum wage. Contrast this with its response to the news that “shadow” domestic workers, like cleaners, gardeners and car washers – paid cash-in-hand by middle-class households – are likely to miss out on the NLW. An investigation was immediately launched to look into it. |
| Meanwhile Anthony is struggling to get by. “I’ll now be £20 a week worse off due to the changes,” he says. “At the moment, I’m just surviving on the £7.20.” Even before their exclusion from the NLW, younger workers had watched their wages plummet in recent years. As another young worker put it: “You prioritise … things like meat in the food shop as it’s expensive, heating never goes on, wearing shoes that have gone well past their best because new shoes are two weeks’ worth of food shopping and silly things like going home on a weekend to visit my parents because you can’t afford petrol or public transport.” | Meanwhile Anthony is struggling to get by. “I’ll now be £20 a week worse off due to the changes,” he says. “At the moment, I’m just surviving on the £7.20.” Even before their exclusion from the NLW, younger workers had watched their wages plummet in recent years. As another young worker put it: “You prioritise … things like meat in the food shop as it’s expensive, heating never goes on, wearing shoes that have gone well past their best because new shoes are two weeks’ worth of food shopping and silly things like going home on a weekend to visit my parents because you can’t afford petrol or public transport.” |
| This is business as usual for a government that has embraced generational inequality, where young people suffer most | This is business as usual for a government that has embraced generational inequality, where young people suffer most |
| The NLW is business as usual for a government that has embraced generational inequality – where pensioners, and their valuable vote, have largely escaped the effects of austerity while the young have suffered most. Look at the rising university debt pressures and the abolition of maintenance grants for the poorest students. The removal of housing benefit from 18 to 21 year-olds. Or the fact that it’s young people taking a disproportionate share of the country’s insecure jobs. Anthony says his quality of life “all depends on what hours the company give you for the week”. | The NLW is business as usual for a government that has embraced generational inequality – where pensioners, and their valuable vote, have largely escaped the effects of austerity while the young have suffered most. Look at the rising university debt pressures and the abolition of maintenance grants for the poorest students. The removal of housing benefit from 18 to 21 year-olds. Or the fact that it’s young people taking a disproportionate share of the country’s insecure jobs. Anthony says his quality of life “all depends on what hours the company give you for the week”. |
| Like other policies that remove support from the young, a government that believes that being under 25 means you have no need for a decent wage betrays its class bias. It is not the offspring of the middle class who struggle when housing benefit or educational grants are pulled away – or when the minimum wage isn’t raised. | Like other policies that remove support from the young, a government that believes that being under 25 means you have no need for a decent wage betrays its class bias. It is not the offspring of the middle class who struggle when housing benefit or educational grants are pulled away – or when the minimum wage isn’t raised. |
| “This government underestimates under-25s,” Anthony says. “We shouldn’t be left out. I hope they listen.” | “This government underestimates under-25s,” Anthony says. “We shouldn’t be left out. I hope they listen.” |
| If they don’t, Anthony will have to wait two years to be eligible for the new minimum wage. Even so, by the time the NLW has risen to £9 an hour in 2020 – and Anthony will be old enough to be receiving it from his London firm – he will still be being paid less than today’s real London living wage. | If they don’t, Anthony will have to wait two years to be eligible for the new minimum wage. Even so, by the time the NLW has risen to £9 an hour in 2020 – and Anthony will be old enough to be receiving it from his London firm – he will still be being paid less than today’s real London living wage. |
| “Tory MP Matthew Hancock said that ‘under-25s do not deserve the living wage simply because they are just not productive enough’”, Anthony says. “Put MPs on the minimum wage and watch how fast things will change in this country.” | “Tory MP Matthew Hancock said that ‘under-25s do not deserve the living wage simply because they are just not productive enough’”, Anthony says. “Put MPs on the minimum wage and watch how fast things will change in this country.” |