National Minimum Wage

National Minimum Wage
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chapter will look at data for Great Britain, where data for each of the individual countries are
comparable on a consistent basis.
3.64 For 16-17 year old apprentices in Great Britain, median hourly pay was £2.71, and the bite
of the Apprentice Rate at the median was 92 per cent. This is higher than the bite of the
minimum wage for their non-apprenticeship equivalents (73 per cent). The median gross
hourly pay for 18-20 year old apprentices was £4.62, and the bite at the median was
54 per cent. This is significantly lower than the bite of the minimum wage for their nonapprenticeship
equivalents (80 per cent). The median gross hourly pay for apprentices aged
21 or higher was £6.67, and the bite at the median was 37 per cent. This is also significantly
lower than the bite for their non-apprenticeship equivalents (53 per cent).
3.65 Around 3 per cent of all apprentices were paid £2.50 an hour, and about 10 per cent below
this. A further 1 per cent of apprentices would have been covered by the rise in the
Apprentice Rate to £2.60 an hour in October 2011. Among apprentices aged 16-17 Figure
3.11 shows that over 30 per cent appear to be paid less than £2.50 an hour. Around 9 per
cent were paid at the £2.50 rate, with a further 3 per cent paid below £2.60. About a quarter
of those 16-17 year olds paid below the Apprentice Rate are estimated to be on £2.38 an
hour – equivalent to the previous £95 contractual apprentice wage in England for a 40-hour
working week. About 10 per cent of all 16-17 year olds had hourly rates just above £2.60 an
hour (4.7 per cent between £2.60 and £2.69, and 5.3 per cent between £2.70 and £2.79)
suggesting they would potentially be affected by any future upratings.
Figure 3.11: Hourly Rate of Apprentice Pay, by Age, GB, 2011
Proportion of apprentices (per cent)
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
under 2.35
2.35-2.49
2.50-2.59
2.60-2.69
2.70-2.79
2.80-2.89
2.90-2.99
3.00-3.29
3.30-3.63
3.64-3.70
Gross hourly pay (£)
16-17 18-20
Source: LPC estimates based on BIS Apprentice Pay Survey, GB, 2011.
3.71-3.99
4.00-4.49
4.50-4.91
4.92-4.99
5.00-5.49
21+
5.50-5.92
5.93-5.99
6.00-6.99
7.00 or higher
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0