Nursery World - Childcare providers will struggle with rise to national wage rates

Early years experts have warned that national wage increases could have a ‘devastating’ impact on the sector.

In its 2018 Report published today, the Low Pay Commission said it had not found clear evidence of any negative effects on employment from the increased national living wage (NLW).

As a result, the Government has announced it will follow the commission’s rate recommendations from April 2019, with the NLW set to rise to £8.21 from £7.83.

While the Low Pay Commission found that employers had adapted to NLW increases by accepting lower profits, increasing prices, restructuring workforces and narrowing the gaps between pay bands, early years experts warned such changes would pose a much more significant challenge to the sector.

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