Minimum Wage

What is the point of the National Minimum Wage?  The obvious answer is to ensure that working people are receiving a wage they can live on, to prevent poverty in the working class, to ensure no one is working as slave labour.

If this is the case then why is the NMW so low?

 The government set the NMW at a level they think is acceptable for people to be able to live on, but if this is the right level then why is there a need for Working Tax Credits which subsidise lower paid workers salaries up to a "liveable" level?


If the NMW is classed as the lowest acceptable wage for a person to live on then why is that money taxed, leaving them with even less money to live on, does minimum not mean anything.  


It is not just the young or unskilled workers who earn this (slave labour wage) minimum wage; fully qualified, skilled & experienced workers are being made to work on £6.08 per hour (depending on age).  Most of these people have families to feed, household bills and mortgages or rent to pay, so how do they manage - they claim working (and possibly child) tax credits. What's the point of a system that taxes people and then gives them the money back because they can't afford to live?

It seems a ridiculous circle. Earn minimum wage, pay tax to government, government give some back in tax credits.



Surely if the National Minumum Wage was increased to a real liveable level, there would be no need for Tax credits. 

Having the facility to claim tax credit opens the door for employers to get away with only paying minimum wage. As tax payers we are subsidising those employers to underpay their staff and are therefore, in fact, directly subsidising the profits of their businesses.  

Tax credits are a government subsidy for mean employers. 

Surely if the government raised the minimum wage to a real liveable level, that would take some people off benefits (without lowering their net income) and give them the pride of paying their way in life, rather than being dependent on the state. Which, in turn, would improve their self-image and help break the dependency cycle for some families.

I recently took on extra work to help boost my income. I am 47 and have been fully qualified in my skilled occupation for 10 years and yet my employer will not pay more than the minimum wage.  Its no surprise to me to find that staff turnover is pretty quick, but my employer doesn't mind, they'll soon employ others for minimum wage (for a while).

Earning minimum wage makes you feel under valued, I know I am worth more than £6.08 an hour, but what do I do? Do I leave and not earn the extra money at all or do I stay, swallow my pride and work for peanuts?