Minimum wage linked to child poverty

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Mr Blunkett, a former Work and Pensions Secretary, will argue that the statutory rate should rise steadily to 50% of average wage levels if the Government is to meet its target of halving child poverty by 2010.

Mr Blunkett will say at the launch of a Save The Children book on child poverty: "As a strong advocate of the Government's Welfare to Work agenda, and of making work pay, I believe that the Low Pay Commission and the Government need to be much more ambitious in raising the national minimum wage and subsequent adjustments to tax credits.

"As well as being a contribution to moving the able-bodied from benefit into work, this would reduce in-work poverty and the feeling of unfairness when comparable industrial and service-sector earnings are taken into account.

"We should therefore aim for steady progress to 50% of the comparable wage levels, in line with countries as variable as Ireland, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Malta across the EU."

There are three levels of minimum wage: £5.52 per hour for workers aged over 22; a development rate of £4.60 per hour for workers aged 18-21; and £3.40 per hour for all workers under the age of 18.