Wage is 'too low'

By Kate Youde on September 6, 2007 12:00 AM

WORKERS in Docklands could earn a pay hike if politicians heed calls to increase the minimum wage.
Number-crunchers are urging the Government to pay London's lowest earners #6.50 an hour to keep pace with the average pay of a capital worker.
About 300,000 workers would benefit from the change.

The National Minimum Wage for workers aged 22 and over will increase from #5.35 to #5.52 on October 1.
A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), to be published next month, will show the gap between London's lowest paid workers and average wage earners is wider than anywhere else in the country.
A minimum wage worker in the capital earns just a third of the average salary in London, whereas the average UK employee on minimum wage takes home more than half the national average pay.
IPPR is recommending the Government asks the Low Pay Commission to investigate a specific minimum earnings level for London when it sets the National Minimum Wage in its 2008 report.
Kate Stanley, IPPR head of social policy, said: "If the Government is serious about tackling the gap between rich and poor, but reluctant to tax higher earners, a higher minimum wage in London - where average wages and living costs are significantly higher than across the rest of the country - must be part of the solution."
Nearly one in five (17 per cent) of working London households is in poverty, compared to the national average of less than 14 per cent. newsdesk@wharf.co.uk Rise: The minimum wage goes up by 17p next month for over 22s
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