In 2021, Summer reported working for £4.62 per hour—the minimum wage for those under the age of 18 at the time—in addition to her education in Margate, all to help her and her aunt pay the rent and stock the refrigerator with food.
When she turned eighteen in September, she was earning £375 per week working fifty hours per week in the hotel industry, despite the fact that her 21-year-old coworkers were legally entitled to at least £134 more for the same work.
In the UK, there are three distinct adult minimum wages based on age. The government will cut this to two on Monday, but the gap between those who are 21 and older and those who are between the ages of 18 and 20 will still exist.
I vehemently disagree with that. As a 19-year-old, I think that my friends and I work equally as hard, if not harder, than some of the people who are older than us, based on the work that we do, Summer told News.
“I think it should be based on someone’s work ethic and their ability to do a job,” she continued after admitting that she had felt undervalued.
