UK Minimum Wage Will Rise 3.9% to £13.21 (About $17.60) an Hour From April 2027

The National Living Wage will increase by 3.9% to £13.21 (about $17.60) an hour from £12.71 (about $17) for workers aged 21 and over, after Chancellor John Healey used the Budget to announce the minimum wage rises for 2.3 million of our lowest paid workers, in his words. The new rate takes effect on 1 April 2027, and the Government has accepted in full the recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission. That is a rise of 50p an hour (about $0.67). For Metaintro readers in hourly jobs across the UK, from retail and hospitality to care, this guide sets out what the new rates mean in pay, what changes for workers under 21, who is legally covered and what to do if your pay falls short.

What Exactly Was Announced for April 2027?

The full set of rates came in one table. Alongside the adult rate, the 18-20 year old rate rises 42p (about $0.56) to £11.27 (about $15), the 16-17 year old rate and the apprentice rate both rise 31p (about $0.41) to £8.31 (about $11.07), and the accommodation offset rises 43p (about $0.57) to £11.53 per day (about $15.35), all of them 3.9% increases in line with the adult rate. The Commission, the independent body that advises the government on the minimum wage, submitted its recommendations to the Government on 23 October 2026, and the rates were agreed unanimously by the Commission. The Department for Business and Trade published the remit on 16 March 2026, and it asked the Commission to send its advice to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade by the end of October 2026.

How Does £13.21 (About $17.60) Compare With the Low Pay Commission's Projection?

The final rate sits a few pence above the £13.18 central estimate (about $17.60) the Commission published in the spring. In its spring consultation letter, the Commission estimated that keeping the National Living Wage at two-thirds of median earnings would need a rate between £13.02 (about $17.30) and £13.34 (about $17.80), or an increase of between 2.4 and 5.0 per cent, in April 2027, with a central estimate of £13.18. Those spring figures were indicative only and subject to changes in data sources and forecasts.

That two-thirds line matters because, in the remit, the government believes two-thirds of median hourly earnings should continue to be the key reference point for future rates. The same remit lists the condition of the labour market, the cost of living, the impact on businesses and competitiveness and wider macroeconomic conditions as factors to weigh.

The rate the Commission recommended in October is below that needed to reach the reference point, though it is above the range of inflation forecasts from April 2027 to March 2028, so the Commission judges it will protect the rate in real terms over the period specified in its remit.

Economic growth has been better than expected this year, but this growth is not leading to hiring. Furthermore, our stakeholders are worried about the risks of a further energy price shock to the economy, Baroness Philippa Stroud, Chair of the Low Pay Commission, said, according to the Low Pay Commission announcement.

How Much More Will a Full-Time Worker Earn?

The rise adds £910 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage (about $1,212). The government does not say how many weekly hours that full-time figure assumes, so a worker on longer paid hours gains more and one on shorter hours gains less.

Part-time staff gain in proportion to their hours, since a worker on half those paid hours gets half the wage increase.

The adult rate was £11.44 (about $15.20) from April 2024 and £12.21 (about $16.30) from April 2025, and this April it went up again, a 4.1% rise. That was a bigger step than the 3.9% rise for 2027.

What Happens to the Rate for 18 to 20 Year Olds?

This is where the new rates change direction. The rate for 18, 19 and 20 year olds rises by 42p, or 3.9%, to £11.27 (about $0.56, to about $15) an hour from £10.85 (about $14.40), the same pace as the adult rate. The Commission is pausing on alignment by recommending a percentage increase in line with that for the NLW, which brings to a stop a trend seen in recent years in which the minimum rate for younger workers has increased by more than that for older workers.

The recent pace has been fast. The 18 to 20 rate rose by 8.5% this April, the third consecutive year it has risen substantially more than the NLW. The same band was £8.60 (about $11.50) from April 2024 and £10 (about $13.30) from April 2025. The gap to the adult rate is now £1.86 an hour (about $2.50).

The official goal has not been dropped on paper. The government remains committed to removing the discriminatory age bands for adults and aligning the National Minimum Wage for people aged 18 to 20 years old with the National Living Wage, but gives the Commission full flexibility to determine the pace and ultimate timing of that alignment, with priority being given to the employment prospects of younger workers.

The age threshold itself does not move. The new adult rate in the official table still applies to the National Living Wage (21 and over). The Commission sees still potential to lower the age limit, especially for 20 year olds, but it found that demand for young workers has slowed and the risks associated with ambitious rises have increased. The government still has the ambition to reduce the NLW age threshold from 21 to 18. The age threshold came down from 25 to 23 in April 2021 and from 23 to 21 in April 2024.

The UK now has one of the highest minimum wages of any advanced economy. While there may be scope to go further, the current weaknesses in the labour market and record number of Neets mean that now is not the right time for pushing rates up faster than typical earnings, Nye Cominetti, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said, according to the LBC report.

Why Is the Youth Rate Slowing Down?

The shift reflects concerns from businesses and economists that young people are being priced out of the jobs market. Some 940,000 young people are now classed as Neets, meaning not in education, employment or training, a figure that has risen by 195,000 in the past two years. Youth unemployment is at 15.6 percent, with 54,000 more young people out of work than a year ago. Metaintro has also looked at the fall in UK starter jobs for young people.

Simon Emeny, executive chairman of Fuller's, said earlier this year that pay policy was having the opposite effect because businesses are hiring fewer workers.

Others read the evidence differently. The Trades Union Congress rejected the warnings about equalising the rates, pointing to analysis showing 85% of young workers are already paid above the minimum wage. Earlier moves to bring 23 and 24 year olds, and later 21 and 22 year olds, onto the adult rate didn't impact employment rates, in the Low Pay Commission's assessment.

Separately, the government this month unveiled plans to create 100,000 additional jobs in the retail sector by the end of the parliament. Part of that is Opening Shift, a Department for Work and Pensions programme that will offer 11,000 18-24 year-olds two-to-four-week placements at retailers including John Lewis, Tesco and Costa Coffee.

What Do Apprentices and Under-18s Get From April 2027?

Under-18s and qualifying apprentices move from £8 (about $10.70) an hour to £8.31 (about $11.07), a 31p (about $0.41) rise. For 16 and 17 year olds, most of whom are in full-time education, the Commission found that employment for this age group has deteriorated over recent years. Apprentice vacancy numbers have declined faster than for all vacancies in the economy, though the Commission does not see the pay rate as the main cause, and it weighed some concern from employers about the cost of employing apprentices. The apprentice rate applies to apprentices aged under 19, or aged 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Apprentices aged 19 or over who have completed the first year are entitled to the minimum wage for their age, so a 21-year-old in that position gets the adult rate.

In its remit, the government had asked the Commission to recommend under-18 and apprentice rates at a level which supports the employment prospects for each group. It also asked for evidence on the effectiveness and operation of the apprentice National Minimum Wage and to recommend a new accommodation offset rate.

Who Is Legally Entitled to the Minimum Wage?

People classed as workers are covered. They must be at least school leaving age to get the National Minimum Wage and 21 or over to get the National Living Wage. Cover extends to part-time, casual and agency workers, apprentices, trainees, workers on probation, disabled workers and foreign workers, among others.

A signed contract cannot opt you out. Contracts for payments below the minimum wage are not legally binding, and the worker is still owed the legal rate.

Some groups are excluded. They include self-employed people running their own business, company directors, volunteers, members of the armed forces and higher and further education students on work experience or a work placement up to one year, plus people on a Jobcentre Plus Work trial for up to 6 weeks.

If you think you are underpaid, free advice is a phone call away. The Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 runs Monday to Friday, and complaints about the National Minimum Wage go to HM Revenue and Customs. Underpaid workers can read about the UK's list of employers named for underpaying staff.

What Does a Higher Wage Floor Cost Employers?

The cost runs past wages. Carrying forward the current ordinary employer rate of 15% and £5,000 (about $6,660) annual secondary threshold for National Insurance, a rise to the Commission's spring central projection, a few pence below the final rate, adds £1,124.24 (about $1,500) a year to wages and employer National Insurance for one full-time adult worker where no allowance remains. Eligible employers can offset some of that, since Employment Allowance can currently reduce an eligible employer's annual employer NI bill by up to £10,500 (about $14,000).

The current under-21 employer National Insurance rate is 0% below the upper secondary threshold of £967 a week (about $1,290), so below that limit an employer pays no employer National Insurance on an under-21 worker's wages.

Entry-level pay rose by 12.9% in 2024, compared with 7.6% for intermediate roles and 5.8% for senior staff, an effect Brightmine calls squeezeflation. The minimum wage has risen faster than RPI inflation in 17 of the past 26 years, and 63% of employers cite limited promotion or progression opportunities as a reason for staff turnover.

Employers' reactions were mixed. Matt Newnham, head of employment at Birketts, said employers would feel listened to on their concerns about the pace at which minimum wage rates for younger workers have been increasing, while warning that hiring costs should not discourage new entry-level openings. Helen Watson of Aaron & Partners added that higher wage costs could deter smaller businesses from hiring.

What Else in the Budget Will Reach Low-Paid Workers?

The wage rise came with several other measures. For carers, the Budget is getting rid of the cliff edge on earnings. Under the current rules, unpaid carers lose their £83.30-a-week payment (about $111) if they earn a penny over the weekly earnings limit, a limit equivalent to 16 hours of the National Living Wage. Under the change, only £1 of support will taper away for every additional £1 earned (about $1.33).

People who drive for work also gain. The Chancellor is locking in the 55p a mile tax-free rate for the first 10,000 business miles (about $0.73), and the rate above 10,000 miles rises from 25p to 35p a mile (about $0.33 to $0.47). The change helps nurses, care workers, self employed builders and others who use their own car, around 2 million employees and 1 million self-employed people in all.

New parents get a wider safety net. The government is extending parental pay to more than 160,000 additional parents, including self-employed dads and partners who have previously missed out, with two weeks of support currently worth up to £194 a week (about $258). Self-employed fathers and partners will also become eligible for paid parental leave for the first time.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

For adult workers on the legal floor, the £13.21 rate (about $17.60) lands inside the £13.02 to £13.34 indicative range (about $17.30 to $17.80) the Commission published in the spring. The bigger shift is for the youngest adult workers. After three years of fast catch-up, the Commission is pausing on alignment, which slows their rise to the adult pace and halts a trend seen in recent years of faster rises for younger workers. The Commission's reason is that demand for young workers has slowed. Your first job is more about getting in the door, and the pay jump comes when you turn 21 and qualify for the National Living Wage.

• Check your own rate on 1 April. The new rates change on 1 April every year. Compare your first April payslip with the published rates table.
• Watch your birthday and apprenticeship year. Turning 21 (unless you are in the first year of an apprenticeship), or finishing the first year of an apprenticeship if you are 19 or over, moves you to a higher legal rate, and your employer has to apply it.
• Use Acas if pay looks short. Acas gives free and confidential advice, and the number is in the entitlement section above.
• Look at what sits around the pay. Structured placements such as the Opening Shift work experience programme and apprenticeships build work experience while the youth rate rises at the adult pace.

Lacey Kaelani, Metaintro's CEO, puts it this way: A wage floor tells you the least an employer can pay you, not what you are worth. Learn your legal rate, then aim above it.

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People Also Asked

Q: What will the UK minimum wage be in April 2027?

A: The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over will rise by 3.9 per cent to £13.21 (about $17.60) an hour from £12.71 (about $17), as confirmed at the Budget.

Q: How much will 18 to 20 year olds get from April 2027?

A: The 18 to 20 rate goes from £10.85 to £11.27 an hour (about $14.40 to $15), an increase of 3.9 per cent, the same pace as the adult rate.

Q: What did the Low Pay Commission project for April 2027?

A: It projected a central estimate of £13.18 (about $17.55), within a range of £13.02 (about $17.30) to £13.34 (about $17.80), to keep the National Living Wage at two-thirds of median earnings.

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