HC Deb 07 March 1990 vol 168 c666W
Mr. Butler

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what calculations his Department has made on job losses in the United Kingdom consequent upon the introduction of minimum wage legislation under the European social charter.

Mr. Nicholls

Officials in the Department have estimated that the imposition of a minimum wage set at 50 per cent. of the national average wage would result in the loss of about three quarters of a million jobs in this country.