The future of the youth minimum wage will come under review as part of a major inquiry into rising inactivity among Britain’s young people by the former health secretary Alan Milburn.
The social mobility expert said that unless the government tackled some “uncomfortable truths” about the labour market there was a risk of creating a “lost generation” of young people.
In an interview with the Guardian, he said the rising overall welfare bill was “unsustainable fiscally and economically” but insisted that any reform of the system had to focus on righting social injustices first.
Milburn’s intervention over the minimum wage echoes recent warnings from economists that the increase in youth rates – which the government is trying to equalise with the adult rate – could lead to some being “priced out” of entry-level jobs.
But it is likely to be greeted with dismay from some Labour MPs and unions after the party pledged to end “discriminatory” lower minimum wage rates for younger workers so that all adults would be entitled to the same legal pa
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