Overview
- The new statutory rates, which took effect Wednesday, set the National Living Wage at £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over.
- About 2.7 million workers benefit from the uplift, with a full-time adult on the legal minimum earning roughly £900 more a year.
- Rates for younger staff also rise, with 18–20 year-olds now on £10.85 an hour and 16–17 year-olds and apprentices on £8.
- The government accepted the Low Pay Commission’s advice for 2026, and the Commission opened its 2027 consultation with a provisional projection of about a 3.7% increase to around £13.18.
- Business groups warn higher wage bills could squeeze hiring and raise prices, with hospitality trade bodies reporting plans to cut jobs after recent cost increases.