Partly as a result of these changed patterns of employment, the prevalence of
low-paid work in the British economy has risen (see figure 2.11). Although the
national minimum wage has been rising in real terms (now £7.50 per hour for
workers over the age of 25, and between £3.50 and £7.05 for those under 25), the
proportion of the workforce on or around this wage level is higher than 10 years
ago, and there are more workers now earning below the national living wage.
What in buggery did you expect? Push the minimum wage up faster than average wages are growing and a larger portion of the workforce will be on the minimum wage. Are these people really too dim to grasp that? As to the living wage, that’s risen even faster, hasn’t it? Thus the portion will also be larger.
Idiots.
The national living wage is that designed to support a family in comfort on a single-earner’s wages. The idea that “grown-up” kids living at home with their parent(s) each need to earn the “national living wage” is ludicrous.