The toxic politicising of the National minimum wage
Employee Relations. The International Journal
2017
39
6
785-789
Wages and wage payment systems
https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-04-2017-0072
English
Bibliogr.
"Purpose
After 15 years of successful operation, the British Low Pay Commission's management of the National Minimum Wage was threatened in 2015 by the government's introduction the National Living Wage. The purpose of this paper is to consider the underlying principles of previous minimum wage fixing, and the additional thinking of the Living Wage Foundation and the review of the issue by the Resolution Foundation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on the 2016 reports of the Commission to argue that the two statutory wages are unavoidably interlinked and are tied to incompatible criteria.
Findings
The paper concludes that the predicted eventual impact of the National Living Wage on the labour market will be unsustainable.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is relevant to minimum wage research.
Practical implications
The paper is relevant to minimum wage policy.
Social implications
The paper is relevant to low pay policy.
Originality/value
The paper provides original analysis of minimum wage policy."
Digital
The ETUI is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the ETUI.