'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.

The timing is sensitive. New job figures this week confirmed young people are the most likely to struggle in the UK job market, with 16.1% of people aged 16 to 24 unemployed, compared to a national average of 5.1%. On Tuesday, it was confirmed unemployment had risen to a near five-year high, with the jobless rate among young people at its worst level for more than a decade.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment rose to 5.2% in the three months to December, up from 5.1% in the three months to November.