Minimum wage for under 18s in the UK 2004-2024

For workers under the age of 18, the national minimum wage in the United Kingdom was 6.4 British pounds per hour as of 2024. This is an increase of 1.12 pounds when compared with 2023 when the minimum wage for this age group was 5.28 pounds. This particular minimum wage category was three pounds when it was first introduced in 2004, five years after the launch of the minimum age for workers aged 19 or over. 

Minimum wage rates history

In 1999, when the UK minimum wage was first introduced, there were two different wage rates; one for those aged 18 to 21, and another for those aged 22 or over. These two rates were joined by an under 18 rate in 2004, and then in 2010 the minimum wage was reorganized to include a rate for apprentice workers, while the top rate was increased to include workers aged 21. As of 2024, after several further waves of reorganization, there are four different wage categories. For workers aged 21 and over, the minimum hourly wage is 11.44 pounds, falling to 8.6 pounds for 18 to 20-year-olds, and 6.4 pounds for under 18s and apprentices.

Wages growing again in 2024

In April 2024, weekly wages were growing by approximately 2.6 percent, the eleventh-consecutive month of wage growth following a long period of wages falling. High inflation throughout 2022 and 2023, meant that prices were rising faster than pay for a long twenty-month period between November 2021 and June 2023. With inflation down, and wages still growing, there are hopeful signs the UK might be over the worst of the Cost of Living Crisis, ongoing since late 2021. As of May 2024, however, over half of UK households were still reporting an increase in their living costs, relative to the previous month.