YOUNG workers are missing out on up to £6,300 a year because they are not entitled to the so-called national living wage (NLW), according to a report published today.

Some 1.2 million people under the age of 25, more than half of them women, earn less than the minimum amount the government has stated is needed to live on, the Young Women’s Trust says.

The national minimum wage was rebranded the NLW by former Tory chancellor George Osborne under David Cameron’s government.

The NLW is £7.50 an hour for those aged 25 and over, but 16- and 17-year-olds were being paid the apprentice wage of £4.05 for doing the same job, the charity found. The NLW does not meet the living wage as determined by the living wage foundation – £8.45 an hour or £9.75 an hour in  London – let alone the £10 minimum wage called for by the Labour Party.

A YouGov survey showed that the vast majority of employers agree that young people should be paid the same wages for doing the same jobs as older workers.

Trust chief executive Dr Carole Easton said: “Politicians are increasingly asking themselves how they can win young people’s votes.

“It’s time they started asking young people. Young people are telling us day in, day out, that they are struggling to make ends meet.

“They are falling into debt, using foodbanks in greater numbers and their self-confidence is low.

“We all need a basic amount of money to get by, no matter how old we are. Rent doesn’t cost any less in your early 20s.”

The charity says that significantly increasing the apprentice minimum wage and changing the law to ensure under-25s are entitled to the same minimum wage as older workers would benefit businesses and the economy.

Trade union GMB has found that since the recession peak in 2009, the wages of young workers have fallen by a quarter, with young people under 25 now being paid, on average, 42 per cent less than other workers.