The national minimum wage will increase by 20p an hour to ?6.70 from October, the government has announced.The changes will benefit more than 1.4 million workers.The hourly rate for younger workers will also rise, and for apprentices it will go up by 20% to ?3.30 an hour.
英国政府宣布，自十月份起，英国最低时薪将增加20便士，至6.7英镑。此项改变将使140万员工受益。年轻员工的小时工资率也会上涨。此外，学徒时薪会增加20%，升至3.30英镑。
The rates were recommended by the Low Pay Commission but the government has gone further than the 7p an hour increase suggested for apprentices.Prime Minister David Cameron said the across-the-board increases would offer "more financial security" to workers, and "a better future" for Britain。
低薪委员会建议将学徒时薪增加7便士，但是政府并未采纳该建议，而是更进一步。首相戴维·卡梅伦表示全员等额提薪能为员工提供“更多财政保障”，让英国的“未来越来越好”。
The 3% increase in the national minimum wage for adult workers is the biggest real-terms rise in seven years. It was recommended by the Low Pay Commission - the independent body that advises the government on the minimum wage。
低薪委员会是个独立的机构，就最低薪水问题向政府提出了建议。根据该委员会建议，将成年工人最低薪水提高3%是7年来增长最多的一次。
The statutory minimum for 18 to 20-year-olds will also go up by 3% from October, from ?5.13 to ?5.30, and by 2% for 16 and 17-year-olds, taking the rate to ?3.87, as the LPC advised。
低薪委员会建议，自10月份起，将18到20岁年轻人的法定最低时薪提高3%，由5.13英镑上升至5.30英镑，16或17岁青少年的法定最低时薪提高2%，升至3.87英镑。
But the government has rejected the commission’s proposed 7p an hour increase in the apprenticeship rate, choosing instead to increase it by 57p an hour. The rate applies to apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over who are in their first year. All other apprentices are entitled to the national minimum wage for their age。
但是政府拒绝了委员会有关提高学徒时薪的建议，选择每小时增加57便士，而非委员会建议的7便士。该项比率适用于16至18周岁的学徒，以及首次步入工作岗位的19岁或19岁以上的年轻人。其他所有学徒都有权享受相应年龄段的最低薪水。
Announcing the changes, Mr Cameron said: "At the heart of our long-term economic plan for Britain is a simple idea - that those who put in, should get out, that hard work is really rewarded, that the benefits of recovery are truly national。
卡梅伦宣布这些变化时说道：“英国长期经济发展计划的核心就是有付出就会有收获。努力工作会有所回报，全国所有人们都有权收益。”
Labour has promised the minimum wage would rise rise to ?8 an hour over the course of the next parliament if it wins in May。
工党表示若能在5月份胜出，将承诺将最低时薪提升至8英镑。
CBI director-general John Cridland said it was "positive" that the government had accepted the LPC’s recommendations on the adult and youth rates. But, he added, it was "disappointing" that worried by the "politicisation" of the commission。
英国工业联合会理事长约翰·克里德兰表示政府接受低薪委员会的建议，提升成年人和青少年工资，这是“具有积极影响的”。但是他又补充说道，担心委员会“政治化”，这又非常“消极”。
Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, said the rate increases go "nowhere near enough to end in-work poverty"。
但是，英国劳工联合会议秘书长弗朗西斯·奥格雷迪表示，要想消除“就业中贫困”，此项比率还远远不够。
