More
than 260,000 jobs in the UK pay less than the legal minimum wage, according to
the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
However,
this represents a fall of 70,000 since the last official low pay estimate in
spring 2002.
The
official figures suggest that 40,000 jobs held by 18 to 21 year olds pay less
than £3.60 per hour, while 220,000 employees aged over 22 get less than £4.20
per hour.
The
minimum wage was introduced on 1 April 1999 and now stands at £4.50 an hour (or
£3.80 an hour for those aged between 18 and 21).
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