Government also wants cost of living to remain considered in minimum wage recommendations
The United Kingdom government will seek to eliminate age-based minimum wage bands in a bid to establish a single pay rate for all adults in the country.
The government instructed the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to consult employers, trade unions, and workers on narrowing the gap between the 18-to-20-year-old rate of the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage.
"We promised to make low pay a thing of the past, and deliver a wage people can live on, and that is exactly what this government is determined to deliver," said Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner in a statement.
The present minimum wage per hour in the UK is currently £12.21 for those aged 21 years and over, while the current rate for those between 18 and 20 years of age is £10.00.
The UK government's remit to the LPC, which makes recommendations on the minimum wage rate, states it should carry out consultations on how to remove the "discriminatory age bands" for adults.
It should also consider the effects on employment of younger workers, incentives for them to remain in training or education, and the wider economy.
"The findings from this consultation should then inform the LPC's recommendations for the 18-to-20-year-old rate(s) from April 2026," the UK government said.
Baroness Philippa Stroud, chair of the LPC, said they are "pleased" to receive the remit from the government.
"Already, since the beginning of the year, we have spent significant time speaking with workers and employers, to understand the pressures in the economy and the effects of the most recent increases in the minimum wage," Stroud said in a statement.
"We have held a successful call for evidence and received detailed submissions from all sides."
The LPC usually issues recommendations for the minimum wage in October, which the government will consider and apply the following April.
"Our recommendations on the minimum wage are always finely balanced," Stroud said. "I look forward to working with the rest of the Commission over the autumn to reach a shared view on this evidence and deliver our advice to the Government in October."
The new remit comes as the government instructed the LPC last year to consider the impact of the cost of living in the minimum wage recommendations.
This led to a record cash increase in the Minimum Wage for apprentices and those under 18, as well as a £1,400 annual boost for full-time workers on the National Living Wage from April.
"We have already taken bold action to Make Work Pay with more than three million workers seeing a huge boost in their pay following our increase to National Minimum and Living Wage," Rayner said.
This year, the government asked the LPC to continue taking into account the cost of living, as well as the inflation forecasts between April 2026 and April 2027.
"This remit is the next milestone in our plan to get more money in working people’s pockets, raise living standards in every part of the UK, and get our economy growing," the deputy prime minister added.
