Petition · past parliament

Raise the minimum wage for a 16 year old to the same as an 18 year old!

Rejected 16 signatures

What the petition asks

Minimum wage for a 16 year old is £4.20 an hour, but at 18 it is £5.90. Many 16 year olds do the same work as their older colleagues, so why is there a pay difference? Prices such as train fares go up a lot at the age of 16, and £4.20 is not enough to pay for prices of transport among other things.
Many 16 year olds are expected to start becoming self sufficient at 16, paying for transport and their own clothes, phone contracts etc. Working long hours on £4.20 is really not allowing 16 year olds to be able to afford such things. As well as this, we cannot save for things such as a car or even put money towards university fees in the future. As long as we’re working the same hours and doing the same jobs, the £1.70 pay difference an hour isn’t fair.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

8 Nov 2018 Petition opened for signatures
14 Nov 2018 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 16
Status Rejected
Rejected 14 Nov 2018

Follow this petition

Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.

Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.