Minimum wage should rise to £15 for all workers, says TUC

The minimum wage in the UK should rise to £15 an hour "as soon as possible", the Trades Union Congress (TUC) says.

This rate should apply to workers of all ages instead of the current lower rate for under 23s, it said.

Minimum wage is £9.50 an hour for workers over the age of 23 and £9.18 for 21 and 22 year olds. Workers aged 18 to 20 are paid at £6.83 an hour.

Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - is at 10.1%, eroding the spending power of the minimum wage.

Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: "Every worker should be able to afford a decent standard of living.

"But millions of low-paid workers live wage packet to wage packet, struggling to get by - and they are now being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices."

The TUC argues that at a time when companies are paying increased dividends to shareholders, the government should ensure workers get "their fair share" by increasing minimum wage rates now, rather than waiting for the next expected up-rating in April.

"We've had promises from the government time after time, that we should have a high wage economy," Ms O'Grady told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"It should start with low-paid workers who are "absolutely terrified about what those hikes in energy bills will mean for their budgets, having to fork out for school uniforms and put food on the table", she said.

She said a higher minimum wage would mean workers were less likely to be claiming in-work benefits, and more likely to be paying taxes as well as buying goods and services on the High Street.

There was no justification for paying lower rates to younger workers, she added.

"It's clear to me, and I think to many people, that people ought to be paid the rate for the job, regardless of the age they are," Ms O'Grady told the Today programme.

"If they're working as hard doing the same job, why should they be discriminated against simply because they're under 23?"

Rising prices have been eroding the value of pay across the UK economy, prompting strikes amongst railway, postal and port workers.