Osborne unveils National Living Wage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33437115

by MLR • 11 years ago

25 14 11 years ago

bbc.co.uk

64mb• 11 years ago

Load of bollocks.

oliwarner2• 11 years ago

£7.20 is a sick joke. Perhaps the punchline should be that MPs be paid this "living wage" with no expense allowances (because few of us get chauffeured around for free).

They might set it to something sensible then.

Shivetya• 11 years ago

Considering that the wage is generally reserved for unskilled labor perhaps it might be relevant for some MPs.

Snark aside, there are many benefits most who have jobs in this range qualify for which does push their net higher. The idea is that you don't remain at entry level wages across your entire career. The problem is, no one really expected the number of people who are willing to do so if the effort is minimal and their basic (note: lower than what most of us who accept) needs are met.

Having worked in an industry where we had many minimum wage employees and scaling from there I was initially aghast at the wages. Initially, then I talked to some and was surprised that they were happy as they didn't see it as effort to get paid/etc; industry was rent-a-cop type and most were indoors and even sitting with uniform provided combined with fixed hours

lucaspiller• 11 years ago

When I was in college and university I worked at one of the big supermarkets. There were many 'lifers' there, usually middle-aged women who had raised a family and were bored of being at home all day. At the time the minimum wage for me was under £5 as I was under 22, but I got £6 per hour and £9 on Sunday and bank holidays - this was in a relatively cheap part of the country, I believe they paid more in London.

The benefits were also pretty good compared to what I have had in corporate life since. If you wanted to go up the ladder the company provided training schemes to get you into supervisor and management roles - I think a degree was only required for the top levels, but again they provided support for that if that's what you wanted to do.

At £9 per hour this 'living wage' works out to be a salary of £17,500. Considering as a developer in some parts of the UK £35,000 is a good salary, that seems pretty decent given this is for unskilled labour.

raintrees• 11 years ago

At first, I thought this was a suggestion for a basic income (ala Utrecht - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9817209). I was looking forward to another financial experiment/attempt, and from the UK, no less...

return0• 11 years ago

These are not the basic incomes you are looking for.

jeffbr13• 11 years ago

Notice the hijacking of the term "living wage", rather than calling it what it is, a bump to minimum wage.

A cynical political move, and completely in character for this Conservative government.

Zombieball• 11 years ago

I read through the article trying to find details about this "living wage" (thinking it was a basic guaranteed income to all individuals), which would be quite a big thing to introduce.

Then I realized the same as you, they just hijacked the term.

jimrandomh• 11 years ago

Huh? I've encountered the term "living wage" before, used to mean a minimum wage set high enough to cover reasonable expenses, but never heard it used to mean anything else. Are you trying to say that 7.2GBP (11.06USD) isn't a living wage, or something else?

Retra• 11 years ago

You wait 15 years, when people get upset about earning this "living wage."

gazrogers• 11 years ago

The current 'living wage' in the UK is 7.85 outside of London and 9.15 in London. So no, 7.20 isn't a living wage - especially in London.

Osborne unveils National Living Wage

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