Since the National Minimum Wage became law in 1998 it has raised the pay of the lowest earners in the UK. Extreme low pay has fallen by nearly 80 per cent and there is a broad academic consensus that the minimum wage has not caused unemployment. Yet low pay more generally remains a major problem, with one in five workers still earning too little to afford a basic standard of living. In the last 15 years, a great deal has been learned about the impacts of minimum wages. This event launched a major new project that will apply these lessons to the future of the National Minimum Wage and the Low Pay Commission, exploring what more the policy could do to help tackle contemporary low pay. The new work will be led by an expert panel chaired by Professor Sir George Bain, founding chair of the Low Pay Commission. At the event, Professor Sir George Bain gave an opening address on the lessons learned from first 15 years of the minimum wage and the challenges that lie ahead. James Plunkett presented new Resolution Foundation analysis on the minimum wage and its prospects in the coming years. Professor Alan Manning (LSE) and Nicola Smith (TUC) responded, sharing their views on the challenge and important avenues for future policy development.
