A £10 minimum wage would benefit millions of key workers

Introduction

During the current pandemic, there are millions of key workers keeping the country running. These include, among many other occupations, doctors, nurses, carers, hospital porters, teachers and shopworkers.

However, despite the essential work that key workers do, many are underpaid. The TUC has been calling for the minimum wage to be increased to £10 per hour to ensure that everyone is paid enough to get by.

Unfortunately, we estimate that 38 per cent of key workers are being paid less than £10 per hour. This is higher than the percentage among employees who aren’t key workers (31 per cent).

We believe that the national minimum wage should be increased as soon as possible. This will not only benefit key workers, but all of those currently being paid less than £10 per hour.

In this brief research note, we set out an estimate for the number of key workers, as well as the number of key workers earning below £10 per hour. We look at the proportion of key workers by region, gender, ethnicity, age, and public/private sector.

We show that a rise in the minimum wage to £10 per hour would mean a pay increase for up to 3.7 million key workers. As well as this, due to the demographics of those working in key worker occupations, this would particularly help female key workers, as well as young key workers.

How many key workers are there?

We estimate that there are up to 9.8 million employees who, in line with government guidance, could be classified as a key worker. This is around 35 per cent of all employees. 3.7 million of these earn less than £10 per hour.

This means that 38 per cent of key workers would benefit from the national minimum wage being increased to £10 per hour. This is a higher rate than we see among employees who aren’t key workers (31 per cent).

Who counts as a key worker?

The government’s guidance on who is a key worker is vague, and therefore our estimates rely on our interpretation.

To reach an estimate, we matched occupation groups, broken down to four-digit occupation codes, to the government’s guidance on key workers. We then used the Labour Force Survey to find the number of employees in these key worker occupation groups, as well as the number of employees earning less than £10 per hour and further information about who is working in these occupations (such as gender, age, and ethnicity breakdowns).

Even at the detail level of four-digit occupation codes however, we cannot guarantee that everyone within every occupation is a key worker.

The appendix contains the background tables, as well as a list of occupations we think fall within the key worker guidance, alongside the section of guidance they fell under.

Regional key worker employment

Key workers make up 35 per cent of all employees, but this varies by region. London has the lowest proportion (30 per cent), whereas Northern Ireland has the highest (42 per cent).

There are also significant regional disparities in the percentage of key workers who earn less than £10 per hour. In the North East, almost half of all key workers (47 per cent) are being paid less than £10 per hour. The proportion is also over 40 per cent in Yorkshire and Humberside, the West Midlands and the North West. London has the lowest proportion, but it’s still as high as 29 per cent.

Gender differences

Women are almost twice as likely as men to be employed in a key worker occupation (45 per cent, compared to 26 per cent). Many of the largest key worker occupations have a large majority of female employees. Care workers and home carers, nurses, primary and nursery education teaching professionals and teaching assistants, for example, are some of the largest key worker occupations. In each, over 80 per cent of employees are women.

As well as being more likely to be key workers, women are more likely to be low paid once they are within the key worker status. 41 per cent of female key workers are paid less than £10 per hour, compared to 32 per cent of male key workers.

Age

The percentage of employees who are key workers is fairly consistent across all age groups, all falling within a few percentage points of the proportion of all employees (35 per cent).

However, there’s a wide disparity between the percentage of key workers in each age group that earn less than £10 per hour. Young key workers are the most likely to be earning less than £10 per hour. 83 per cent of key workers aged 16 to 19 are paid less than £10 per hour. Among those aged 20 to 24, almost two-thirds of key workers (63 per cent) earn less than £10 per hour. This may relate to the fact that the national minimum wage for those aged 16-17 is just £4.55.

National Minimum Wage rates

Age	16-17	18-20	21-24	25 and over
Rate	£4.15	£4.55	£6.45	£8.72

But it’s not just the majority of young key workers who would benefit from increasing the national minimum wage to £10 per hour. Among key workers aged 65 to 69, 51 per cent are paid less than £10 per hour.

Ethnicity

Black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are more likely than white employees to be key workers, with 40 per cent of BME employees being a key worker, compared to 35 per cent of white key workers.While BME employees are more likely to be key workers, there’s no significant difference in the percentage of key workers being paid less than £10 per hour (39 per cent of BME key workers, compared to 38 per cent of white key workers).

Public/private sector

While public sector employees are much more likely than private sector employees to be key workers, private sector key workers are much more likely to be paid less than £10 per hour.

Despite making up 26 per cent of all employees, public sector employees make up 52 per cent of key workers. 6-in-10 public sector employees are key workers, compared to around a quarter of private sector employees.

However, the majority (51 per cent) of private sector key workers are paid below £10, compared to 22 per cent of public sector key workers.

This reflects that many key worker occupations are in the public sector, and some of these occupations have relatively high pay, such as doctors and teachers. Union density is also significantly higher in the public sector. In contrast, there are a number of key worker occupations with both a high number of private sector employees and a high percentage of employees earning less than £10 per hour. These include shop workers, carers, and pharmacy and dispensing assistants.

Recommendations

We need a £10 minimum wage now. This would mean a pay rise for around 9 million employees. This includes the 3.7 million key workers who are currently being paid less than this while doing vital work to keep the country running.

A rise in the minimum wage would particularly benefit female key workers and young key workers, as well as key workers in the private sector and those working in northern regions and the midlands.

This ask is part of our five ways to thank a worker this May Day. In recognition of the contribution of key workers during this period, the TUC is calling on government to:

Increase the minimum wage to £10 an hour for everyone now.
Deliver fair pay rises for our key workers and rewards for workers across the economy that restore what they've lost through ten years of cuts and slow growth.
Ban zero-hours contracts and stamp out false self-employment
Increase sick pay to the real living wage and make sure everyone can get it from day one.
Bring outsourced workers like cleaners in the NHS back into the public sector on public sector terms and conditions

Appendix

Background tables

All employees
	Employees	Employees paid below £10 per hour	% of employees earning less than £10 per hour
All	27,743,698	9,361,640	34
Key workers	9,839,175	3,742,257	38
Non-key workers	17,904,523	5,619,383	31

Regions
	All employees	Employees earning less than £10 per hour	Key workers	Key workers paid below £10	% of key workers paid below £10	Key workers as % of all employees
North East	1,053,188	472,463	386,595	182,050	47	37
North West	3,068,221	1,140,943	1,145,114	465,995	41	37
Yorkshire and Humberside	2,196,641	875,896	834,481	372,782	45	38
East Midlands	2,045,904	792,088	749,432	302,969	40	37
West Midlands	2,434,228	967,515	871,257	363,878	42	36
East of England	2,619,757	838,026	892,433	312,245	35	34
London	3,807,241	823,063	1,133,458	329,437	29	30
South East	3,867,041	1,135,727	1,284,188	498,548	39	33
South West	2,327,124	852,448	868,782	329,693	38	37
Wales	1,270,830	456,354	510,506	187,281	37	40
Scotland	2,324,819	718,269	856,468	294,033	34	37
Northern Ireland	728,704	288,848	306,461	103,346	34	42
Total	27,743,698	9,361,640	9,839,175	3,742,257	38	35

Age
	All employees	Employees earning less than £10 per hour	Key workers	Key workers paid below £10	% of key workers paid below £10	Key workers as % of all employees
16-19yrs	993,752	848,878	365,388	302,093	83	37
20-24yrs	2,585,468	1,588,946	865,086	544,521	63	33
25-29yrs	3,418,015	1,151,574	1,142,959	467,602	41	33
30-34yrs	3,332,097	920,494	1,159,337	400,740	35	35
35-39yrs	3,220,732	732,035	1,110,566	286,990	26	34
40-44yrs	2,885,512	690,960	996,302	280,801	28	35
45-49yrs	3,048,923	736,786	1,115,069	306,960	28	37
50-54yrs	3,164,008	877,082	1,163,569	373,977	32	37
55-59yrs	2,693,372	875,636	1,018,506	383,308	38	38
60-64yrs	1,609,788	543,076	618,204	253,096	41	38
65-69yrs	549,171	279,332	205,449	104,729	51	37
70 and overs	242,860	116,841	78,740	37,440	48	32
Total	27,743,698	9,361,640	9,839,175	3,742,257	38	35

Gender
	All employees	Employees paid below £10 per hour	Key workers	Key workers paid below £10	% of key workers paid below £10	Key workers as % of all employees
Male	13,935,349	3,823,471	3,572,654	1,155,611	32	26
Female	13,808,349	5,538,169	6,266,521	2,586,646	41	45
Total	27,743,698	9,361,640	9,839,175	3,742,257	38	35

Ethnicity
	All employees	Employees paid below £10 per hour	Key workers	Key workers paid below £10	% of key workers paid below £10	Key workers as % of all employees
White	24,417,345	8,283,406	8,501,511	3,218,700	38	35
BME	3,319,388	1,078,234	1,335,670	523,557	39	40
Total	27,736,733	9,361,640	9,837,181	3,742,257	38	35


Public/private sector
	All employees	Employees paid below £10 per hour	Key workers	Key workers paid below £10	% of key workers paid below £10	Key workers as % of all employees
Private	20,499,929	7,652,175	5,437,225	2,773,953	51	27
Public	7,169,217	1,696,081	4,382,891	963,124	22	61
Total	27,669,146	9,348,256	9,820,116	3,737,077	38	35

List of key worker occupations

Our list of key worker occupations is based on matching four-digit occupation codes to the key worker guidance.

As explained above, this is an interpretation and an estimate. Even at four-digit occupation level, occupations do not perfectly match the government’s guidance on key workers, which is vague at times.

	Code	Employees	Link to key worker guidance
Elected officers and representatives	1116	11,537	Local and national government
Mngrs and directors in transport and distribution	1161	87,173	Transport
Mngrs and directors in storage and warehousing	1162	112,206	Food distribution
Officers in armed forces	1171	27,866	Armed forces personnel
Snr police officers	1172	8,537	Police
Snr offcrs in fire, amblnc, prison and related srvcs	1173	10,925	Public safety and national security
Health servcs and public health mngrs and directors	1181	71,576	Health and social care
Social servcs mngrs and directors	1184	34,527	Social workers
Mngrs and directors in retail and wholesale	1190	281,478	Food distribution
Healthcare practice mngrs	1241	17,515	Healthcare
Residential, day and domic care mngrs and prprtrs	1242	63,486	Social care
Shopkeepers and Prprtrs ? wholesale and retail	1254	25,349	Food distribution
Waste disposal and environmental services mngrs	1255	12,377	Utilities
Medical practitioners	2211	247,847	Healthcare
Psychologists	2212	27,900	Healthcare
Pharmacists	2213	63,468	Producers and distributors of medicine
Ophthalmic opticians	2214	10,440	Healthcare
Dental practitioners	2215	9,460	Healthcare
Veterinarians	2216	19,864	Vet medicine
Medical radiographers	2217	40,132	Healthcare
Podiatrists	2218	1,921	Healthcare
Health professionals n.e.c.	2219	56,780	Healthcare
Physiotherapists	2221	72,432	Healthcare
Occupational therapists	2222	45,938	Healthcare
Speech and language therapists	2223	16,355	Healthcare
Therapy professionals n.e.c.	2229	22,941	Healthcare
Nurses	2231	699,542	Healthcare
Midwives	2232	44,672	Healthcare
Secondary education teaching professionals	2314	403,871	Teaching staff
Primary and nursery education teaching professionals	2315	480,252	Teaching staff
Special needs education teaching professionals	2316	75,786	Teaching staff
Snr professionals of educational establishments	2317	103,759	Teaching staff
Teaching and other educational professionals n.e.c.	2319	138,753	Teaching staff
Barristers and judges	2412	7,548	Justice system workers
Solicitors	2413	96,230	Justice system workers
Social workers	2442	111,341	Health and social care
Probation officers	2443	14,763	Prison and probation staff
Clergy	2444	29,370	Religious staff
Paramedics	3213	32,554	Healthcare
Dispensing opticians	3216	9,088	Healthcare
Pharmaceutical technicians	3217	31,292	Healthcare
Medical and dental technicians	3218	35,327	Healthcare
Health associate professionals n.e.c.	3219	24,038	Healthcare
Child and early years officers	3233	41,548	Childcare
Housing officers	3234	61,528	Admin delivering essential public services
Counsellors	3235	24,331	Healthcare
Welfare and housing associate professionals n.e.c.	3239	141,931	Admin delivering essential public services
NCOs and other ranks	3311	48,126	Armed forces personnel
Police officers (sergeant and below)	3312	169,129	Police
Fire service officers (watch manager and below)	3313	47,748	Fire and rescure
Prison service officers (below principal officer)	3314	42,561	Prison and probation staff
Police community support officers	3315	9,294	Police
Protective service associate professionals n.e.c.	3319	64,568	Armed forces personnel
Air traffic controllers	3511	2,770	Air transport
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	3512	21,867	Air transport
Ship and hovercraft officers	3513	17,312	Water transport
Public services associate professionals	3561	98,786	Local and national government
National government administrative occupations	4112	148,235	Local and national government
Local government administrative occupations	4113	139,543	Local and national government
Bank and post office clerks	4123	84,645	Workers in banks and post
Transport and distribution clerks and assistants	4134	64,549	Transport
Medical secretaries	4211	62,447	Healthcare
School secretaries	4213	67,840	Education
Farmers	5111	19,957	Food production
Telecommunications engineers	5242	54,521	Telecommunications
Butchers	5431	24,661	Food production/distributon
Bakers and flour confectioners	5432	23,291	Food production/distributon
Fishmongers and poultry dressers	5433	9,581	Food production/distributon
Nursery nurses and assistants	6121	207,410	Childcare
Childminders and related occupations	6122	36,661	Childcare
Playworkers	6123	24,004	Childcare
Teaching assistants	6125	298,302	Education
Educational support assistants	6126	172,439	Education
Veterinary nurses	6131	23,354	Vetinary services
Nursing auxiliaries and assistants	6141	389,929	Healthcare
Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics)	6142	29,886	Healthcare
Dental nurses	6143	46,089	Healthcare
Houseparents and residential wardens	6144	37,673	Social care
Care workers and home carers	6145	742,294	Social care
Senior care workers	6146	83,331	Social care
Care escorts	6147	5,384	Social care
Undertakers, mortuary and crematorium assistants	6148	25,464	Management of the deceased
Air travel assistants	6214	65,395	Air transport
Rail travel assistants	6215	16,309	Rail transport
Sales and retail assistants	7111	1,016,953	Food distribution
Retail cashiers and check-out operators	7112	159,710	Food distribution
Pharmacy and other dispensing assistants	7114	78,980	Healthcare
Communication operators	7214	24,107	Handle emergency calls
Food, drink and tobacco process operatives	8111	139,914	Food production
Energy plant operatives	8124	4,761	Utilities
Water and sewerage plant operatives	8126	9,953	Utilities
Road construction operatives	8142	15,393	Road transport
Rail construction and maintenance operatives	8143	10,320	Road transport
Large goods vehicle drivers	8211	284,017	Retail distribution
Bus and coach drivers	8213	109,819	Road transport
Train and tram drivers	8231	29,898	Rail transport
Marine and waterways transport operatives	8232	6,477	Water transport
Air transport operatives	8233	15,329	Air transport
Rail transport operatives	8234	19,190	Rail transport
Farm workers	9111	36,044	Food production
Fishing and other elementary agriculture occs n.e.c.	9119	11,310	Food production
Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers	9134	123,484	Food production
Postal workers, mail sorters, mssngrs and couriers	9211	153,083	Postal services
Refuse and salvage occupations	9235	27,041	Waste disposal
Parking and civil enforcement occupations	9242	16,586	Local and national government
Shelf fillers	9251	72,972	Food distribution
Elementary sales occupations n.e.c.	9259	22,225	Food distribution
Hospital porters	9271	18,700	Healthcare
Total		9,839,175