Will More Money Encourage More People?

The minimum wage for apprentices has been risen from £80 to £95 per week after the number of people joining the scheme fell.

The change began on 1 August, and the TUC believe that young women are the most likely to benefit most from them.

Those serving as apprentice that are under the age of 19 or in their first year of their apprenticeship are exempt from the national minimum wage, but the average weekly pay for most apprentices is more than £170 per week.

Female apprentices in hairdressing and childcare are among the lowest paid according to the TUC.

More Needs To Be Done?

According to Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the TUC: “The majority of apprentices are paid well above the minimum rate. But for many trainees, particularly young women, struggling on around £80 a week, an extra £15 will go a long way.

“The next move must be to protect apprentices with the minimum wage, so that employers cannot exploit young trainees by ignoring the minimum pay rate. At a small cost to employers, this would improve the reputation of apprenticeships and encourage more young people to enrol,” he added.

The most recent figures show that the number of young people who began an apprenticeship in England in 2008-09 fell, but the total number in the UK did rise overall.

For 16 to 18 year olds, the number of people choosing apprenticeships fell by 8.3% to reach 81,700. Those between the ages of 19 and 24 taking on apprenticeships fell by a lesser amount of 2% to 68,000.

However, the total number of people going into apprenticeships that are over 25 nearly quadrupled to 46,800 balancing out the other figures.

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