Many workers trapped on minimum wage

Britain’s growing minimum wage workforce includes 320,000 people who have been trapped on the lowest rung of the pay ladder for five years or more, according to a new report from the Resolution Foundation.

The report shows that 17% of all those currently earning the minimum wage or up to 25p an hour above it, have only ever held jobs at this pay level when they have been employed in the last five years. Over the last 10 years, 140,000 workers (7% of all minimum wage workers) have not earned more than 25 pence above the minimum wage. Around 90,000 workers have never earned more than 25 pence above the minimum wage in the 13 years since it was introduced in 1999.

The report suggests that the crucial fork in the road for employees may occur in their mid-30s –the chances of remaining trapped in minimum wage work rises for workers after this point. While workers aged between 46 and 55 make up 17% of all workers on the minimum wage, almost a third (30%) of those trapped there for five years are in this age group.

Alex Hurrell, senior analyst at the Resolution Foundation and co-author of the report said:

“Living on the minimum wage is always hard, but at the very least we would hope that minimum wage work is the first rung on the ladder. For a large group of workers it seems that this is not happening. The reality is a cycle of minimum wage jobs and unemployment, with little progression over time.”

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