Cabinet Office minister Matthew Hancock defended the decision not to apply the new living wage to all employees Getty Images
Workers under the age of 25 do not deserve the new living wage because they are “not as productive” as older workers, Cabinet Office minister Matthew Hancock has said.
The new living wage was George Osborne’s major announcement in his summer budget, coming in at £7.20 an hour next April and rising to £9 by 2020.
The rise will go some way to compensating the cut in working tax credits applied to all workers from next April but controversially the new living wage will not apply to workers under 25.
The minimum wage for those under 25 will remain at £6.70 an hour, £5.30 for under 21-year-olds and £3.87 for under 18s.
Mr Hancock, speaking at a fringe at the Conservative party conference, defended the decision not to apply the new living wage to all employees, saying: “This was an active policy choice. Youth unemployment, whilst falling quite sharply, is still a long way above the unemployment rate for the over 25s.
“Anybody who has employed people knows that younger people, especially in their first jobs, are not as productive, on average.
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk
