National Minimum Wage Increased to £7.20 per hour

In today's budget, George Osborne announced a new National Living Wage, declaring that "Britain deserves a pay rise".

A new compulsory National Living Wage for working people aged 25 and over of £7.20 an hour will be introduced from April 2016, following a pre-announced rise to £6.70 in October 2015.

That means that anyone on the minimum wage, like many construction site labourers, will see their income up by one third - worth an extra £5,000 a year in cash terms.

The Chancellor went on to state that this would be increased to £9 an hour by 2020. Labour had vowed to increase the minimum wage to £8 by 2020 during the general election campaign.

He also announced that the personal allowance will rise from £10,600 to £11,000 next year, and the higher rate threshold from £42,380 to £43,000.