Global financial crisis and the UK national minimum wage – looking back to understand the present

This article compares the historical experience of the Wages Councils Act (WCA) with the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA), looking at the continuities and the discontinuities. It identifies two discontinuities: past accumulation of detailed knowledge on an industry-by-industry basis and the past inclusive relationship with the trade unions. A long tradition of inadequate enforcement provides the main continuity. The article argues that although the NMWA is a more sophisticated piece of legislation than the WCA, this does not mean that there are no lessons to be learned from the past. In particular, the article suggests that the National Minimum Wage would benefit from more detailed statistical knowledge and better integration of trade union expertise. Moreover, past experience warns us that well-intentioned legislation can fall short when the political will to enforce it succumbs to wider economic pressures.