The chancellor is set to increase the national living wage to £9.50 in Wednesday’s budget, Sky News has been told.
It will rise from the current living wage of £8.91 per hour for those aged 23 and over.
The national living wage is what the government calls the national minimum wage for anybody above 22-years-old.
Those below that age are eligible for what is called the “national minimum wage” – currently £4.62 for under 18s, £6.56 for 18 to 20-year-olds and £8.36 for 20 to 22-year-olds.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a series of other spending pledges ahead of the autumn budget as he promised to do “whatever it takes” to support families with the cost of living.
Among the promises he has already revealed are:
• £1.4bn to encourage foreign investment into UK businesses and attract overseas talent
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• £700m to be spent mainly on the new post-Brexit borders and immigration system, as well as a new maritime patrol fleet
• £435m for victims services, crime prevention and the Crown Prosecution Service
• £560m for adult maths coaching to help increase numeracy
• a six-month extension to the COVID recovery loan scheme to June 2022