Open consultation

Low Pay Commission consultation questions

Published 2 May 2025

Consultation questions

About you

Please provide information about yourself or your organisation. If possible, include details about your location, the type of job or business (occupation and/or sector) you are involved in, your workforce if you are an employer (including number of minimum wage workers), and anything else you think is relevant.

The National Living Wage

What has been the impact of the NLW in the past year, particularly the most recent 6.7 per cent increase to £12.21 in April this year? We are interested in the effect of the NLW on any of the areas listed below:

• Employment
• Hours
• Earnings
• Profits
• Prices
• Productivity
• Pay structures and differentials
• Other employee benefits
• Progression and job moves
• Training
• Investment
• Recruitment
• Job quality and security
• Demand in the economy

To what extent has the NLW affected different groups of workers? In particular, are migrant workers affected differently or do effects differ by protected characteristics? (For example, are there differences by sex, race/ethnicity or disability?)

Employer National Insurance (NICs) has risen at the same time as the NLW. How have employers responded to this, and how has this interacted with the NLW change? Which is the bigger impact?

How has the NLW’s impact varied across different areas of the UK?

At what level should the NLW be set from April 2026?

Where do employers get their information about the NLW and future projections?

Experience of those on low pay over the past year

Recent increases in the NLW have exceeded increases in average prices. How far has this helped workers at or close to the minimum wage to meet their living costs?

What has happened to quality of work recently?  For example, have workers experienced changes in contract types, flexibility, workplace harassment and work intensification (e.g. greater expectations for workers to work more flexibly, with greater effort, to higher standard etc)?

What has happened to wider benefits available to workers (including premium pay and non-pay benefits across the workforce)?

What are the barriers preventing workers from moving to a new job, particularly one that is better-paid?

How has access and cost of childcare and transport affected workers’ ability to move into work or to a better-paying job?

What opportunities are there for progression to better-paid work for low paid workers and how common is promotion?

What has been workers’ experience of the Universal Credit system and how the minimum wage interacts with it? Have these influenced workers’ approach to how many hours they work and whether they move to another better-paying job?

Lowering the age of entitlement to the National Living Wage to 18

The Government wishes to move to a single adult rate of the minimum wage for all workers aged 18 and over. The supporting annex lays out some options for achieving this. We welcome any comments on these options, including:

• How will reducing the age threshold for the NLW affect you, your members or others?
• Are there particular benefits or risks associated with the options presented here (or other options we have not considered)? Do you have views on the best approach to changing the age threshold?
• Do you have views on the pace of the transition to an NLW starting at age 18?
• What approach should the LPC take to the gap between the 16-17 Year Old Rate and the minimum wage for 18 year olds?
• How should we evaluate the impact of the steps that we take to move towards an NLW starting at age 18?

Young people

The 18-20 Year Old Rate increased by 16.3 per cent in April to £10.00. The 16-17 Year Old Rate increased by 18 per cent, to £7.55. How have recent changes in the minimum wages for young people affected their employment prospects?

How do the youth minimum wage rates influence employers’ decisions about hiring and pay, and young people’s decisions about employment?

What other factors determine pay for young people aside from the rates? For example, job role, skills or length of time in the job.

Why do employers make use of the youth rates (including pay rates above the youth minimum wages, but below the NLW)? To what extent has this been affected by the recent tight labour market?

Employer National Insurance has risen at the same time as the NLW, but workers below 21 do not attract employer NICs. Has this affected employers’ recruitment decisions?

At what level should the youth rates be set from April 2026?

Apprentices

The Apprentice Rate increased in April by 18 per cent, to £7.55. What do you expect the effects of this increase to be?

What is the outlook for the recruitment and employment of apprentices? What are the drivers of employers’ decisions on this?

How do employers set pay for apprentices? How does this differ from other parts of the workforce?

Our advice to the Government on the future of the NMW recommended significant changes to the treatment of apprentices, including the replacement of the Apprentice Rate by a discount against the relevant NMW age rate. We welcome any comments on these recommendations.

Compliance and enforcement

What issues are there with compliance with the minimum wage and what could be done to address these?

What comments do you have on HMRC’s enforcement work?

Accommodation Offset

The Accommodation Offset increased by 6.7 per cent in April, to £10.66. What has been the effect of recent increases in the offset on employers’ decisions on the provision of accommodation?

What impact does the offset have on workers? What are the hours, pay and working conditions of workers for whom the offset is deducted?

Economic outlook

What are your views on the economic outlook and business conditions in the UK for the period up to April 2026? We are particularly interested in:

• the conditions in the specific sector(s) in which you operate.
• the effects of Government policies and interventions.
• the current state of the labour market, recruitment and retention.

To what extent have employers been affected by other major trends in the economy and labour market: for example, tariffs, inflation, Brexit, the shift to homeworking or changes in the numbers of migrant workers in the UK?

Apart from the minimum wage, what are the key drivers of pay decisions in low-paying sectors and occupations? For example, this could include the cost of living, availability and retention of staff, demand, changes to Universal Credit/other benefits, access to transport or homeworking.

How do employers balance pay pressures for low-paid workers with those for others higher up pay scales? In this context, how do employers decide the money available for their pay bill? Is this based on wages as a share of profits and if so has this changed over time?

How has inflation and the cost of living factored into wage setting? What has been your experience of wage growth and inflation in the last year, and what are your views on forecasts for the next couple of years?