At the end of October, Rishi Sunak announced the Autumn budget and proposed several ways that they’re helping the UK to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A few of these plans included changing Universal Credit rates and ending the pay freeze in the public sector. Alongside this, there were several ways that the budget will affect workers across the UK. We’ve broken it down and listed five ways that the UK Autumn 2021 Budget will impact you.
1.The National Living Wage Is Rising
Most importantly, Rishi announced that on the 1st of April, the national living wage will rise. Under 23-year-olds pay will increase from £8.36 to £9.18 and for over 23-year-olds the increase will be from £8.36 to £9.18. This all comes as a part of their plan to raise the minimum wage by two-thirds of median average wages by 2024.
2.The Roads Are Improving
The government proposed to spend a huge budget of £5 billion on improving the UK’s roads. This will include repairs and general maintenance of the roads. Rishi promised to sort out one million potholes and make the roads safer for drivers nationwide.
3. The Cost Of Fuel Duty
Following the chaos of fuel shortages and panic buying this year forcing prices of fuel up, the chancellor promised the fuel duty will not be increasing. This will help the UK drivers to save on fuel and make prices more affordable.
4. Easier Access To Education
Rishi announced that they will be investing £3 billion in skills and education to help people find higher paid jobs. This will include more funding on things like maths coaching for those that didn’t qualify in school, modern apprenticeships and skills boot camps. This will encourage people to learn new skills and get jobs they wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise. This will potentially make it easier for you to gain the skills needed to get into the automotive industry.
5.Taxes Are Increasing
To help the economy recover from the pandemic, there will be a 1.25% increase in our national insurance payments. This is the highest raise to personal taxes in two decades. For reference, this will mean that those earning £20k will pay an additional £130, people earning £30k will pay an additional £255 and people earning 50k will have to pay an additional £505. This increase will end in April 2023 and be replaced with a new Health & Social Care Levy.
Rishi’s plans aim to help the economy recover after the pandemic while not impacting workers negatively. If you want to see the full published plans from the 2021 UK Budget you can find more information on the Government Website.