How the National Living Wage could be a threat to our jobs by 2020

With the increase of the living wage rising, this could mean that more jobs are to be replaced by robots, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

The research company, which specialises in taxation and public policy, said that with the hourly rate rising over £8.50 by 2020, more jobs may be put at risk.

Agnes Norris Keiller, report author and ISF research economist, said: “The fact there seemed to be a negligible employment impact of a minimum [wage] at £6.70 per hour - the 2015 rate - does not mean the same will be true of the rate of over £8.50 in 2020.

“The fact the higher minimum will increasingly affect jobs that appear to be more automatable is an additional reason why extremely careful monitoring is required.”

In 2015, four per cent of those aged 25 or over were said to be on the living wage, but this could more than double by 2020 rising to 12 per cent.

The IFS said that in 2015 the minimum wage was mostly paid to people in lower wage personal service sector jobs such as hotel cleaning or nursery working.

Jobs that could see significant cuts include retail cashiers and bank clerks.

It has been said that the “National Living Wage is creating a stronger economy and a fairer society”, but well-paid, highly-skilled jobs for the UK’s future are needed, too.

Overall, increasing the living wage too quickly could result in further unemployment for many.

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