The National Living Wage is set to rise from £8.91 per hour to £9.50 in the Budget on Wednesday.

This is a 6.6% increase in the minimum wage for all those aged 23 and over – more than twice the current 3.1% rise in the cost of living. It will take effect from 1 April next year. 

The Chancellor is expected to confirm the changes at Wednesday’s Budget and Spending Review that the National Living Wage will increase from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour – a 59p an hour boost which means a full-time worker on the National Living Wage will see a pay rise of more than £1,000 a year.

The National Living Wage was introduced in 2016 and sets the minimum hourly pay a person over the age of 23 can earn when working.

Rishi Sunak is also set to announce a wage rise for young people under the age of 23. For those aged 21-22 the National Minimum Wage rate increases to £9.18 an hour, up from £8.36 – an 82p increase.

With apprenticeships a key part of the UK Government ‘Plan for Jobs’, the minimum hourly wage for an apprentice will also see a rise next year, with an 18-year-old apprentice in an industry like construction seeing their minimum hourly pay increase by nearly 12%, going from £4.30 to £4.81 an hour.