Hospitality Industry: Pay
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of employees (a) aged 21 and over earning between £12.71 - £13.00 per hour and (b) aged 18 to 20 earning between £10.85 and £11.00 per hour employed in the hospitality sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden
The Department uses the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) to produce estimates of earnings by sector and age group. However, this dataset does not provide for the specific age and wage bands requested.
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) reports that the hospitality sector has a high concentration of minimum wage jobs. In 2025, 24.6% of (or 334,000) roles in hospitality were paid within 5p of the minimum wage rate they are eligible for, compared to 6.6% of (or over 2 million) roles across the economy. Payment within 5p of the relevant minimum wage rate is also proportionally higher among younger workers in hospitality, at 23.3% for 16–20 year olds, compared to 16.6% for 16-20 year olds across the economy.
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