Unemployment in the UK is at approximately 8% (January 2012 statistic) and most of these people are 16-25 year olds. They do not have work experience and so employers cannot see how they will generate more than the minimum wage for them per hour. Therefore they are not employable, it does not make a profit to hire them. If there is no minimum wage, opportunities could arise for such people because they can be paid a small amount per hour. Everyone must start somewhere, and eventually these low paid people can go on and use their experience to get higher pay. Unemployment in countries with no minimum wage is substantially lower than in countries with a minimum wage. For example, in Qatar, the employment rate is 99.5%!

The minimum wage is a perversion of the free market! Abolish it now.