'There are challenges' | Ministers weigh delay to increasing youth minimum wage

Ministers are considering slowing down plans to pay adults of all ages the same minimum wage, amid fresh labour market figures showing young people are struggling more than any other age group to find work.

Labour committed in their election manifesto to remove “discretionary age bands” and increase the wages of 18 to 20-year-olds so they are paid the same as those over 21. But government sources have confirmed ministers are interested in delaying that rise, though are unlikely to reverse the commitment entirely.