Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the reassessment of the national living wage on the eligibility to claim jobseeker's allowance to his Department's quoted up to 16 hours for (a) a single person aged over 25, (b) an old couple aged over 25, (c) a single person aged between 21 and 24, (d) a couple aged between 21 and 24, (e) a single person aged between 18 and 20, (f) a couple aged between 18 and 20, (g) a single person under the age of 18 and (h) a couple under the age of 18.

The national living wage was introduced by this government on 1^st April 2016 at the rate of £7.20 per hour and is applicable to those aged 25 and over. The national minimum wage is for those aged 16 and over. The national living wage is due to increase in April 2017 to £7.50 per hour.

The effect of a change in the level of the national living wage, on Jobseeker’s Allowance, will be to readjust the amount of benefit payable by the equivalent amount, after any appropriate disregards have been taken into account. The change due in April 2017 will have no effect on eligibility to Jobseeker’s Allowance.