Economics
Reeves’ 4.1% Minimum Wage Hike Puts UK Inflation Goals at Risk
The wage increase shows how several of the policy goals Reeves is expected to set out in her budget — including spurring growth and controlling inflation — are in tension with each other.
Photographer: Hollie Adams/BloombergBritain will increase the minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over by 4.1%, in a bid to help low-earners that experts have warned would harm small businesses and stoke inflation.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced plans to raise the minimum salary for younger workers to £12.71 ($17) an hour on the day before her much anticipated budget. Reeves said the move, which would take effect in April, would support people “struggling to make ends meet.”