Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons the National Living Wage is set at a lower rate for under-25s than for older workers.

The Government sets age-related minimum wages in order to protect younger workers, who may otherwise be more vulnerable to being unemployed than older workers. Our aim is to set National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for all workers under 25 at a level that maximises their earnings without damaging employment prospects by setting it too high

The 2017 Low Pay Commission report shows the unemployment rates for young people not in full-time education in the UK is 31.3 per cent for 16-18 year olds, 15.5 per cent for 18-20 year olds and 8.4 per cent for those aged 21 to 24 in the second quarter of 2017. This compares to 4.6 per cent for those aged 25 to 30.