Minimum wage goes up today
Millions of employees will be rubbing their hands in glee as the minimum wage rises to over £5 per hour today.
The new minimum wage for adults has increased by 20 pence per hour, bringing the total hourly rate to £5.05.
18 to 21 year olds have also gained by 15 pence, lifting their hourly rate to a minimum of £4.25.
Union leaders are pleased with the pay increases, and they say that businesses can well afford to absorb the extra costs.
'The increase will see well over a million low-paid workers with more cash in their pockets, many of them women working part-time,' said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.
He said that firms may protest at the wage rises, and predict job losses as a consequence, but these redundancies never seem to happen.
The next review on the minimum wage is due in February 2005, although business figures are already warning that any further rises would have damaging economic repercussions.
The base wage for under 18's remains at £3 per hour. | 
