I started my working life as a sales assistant in Sports Direct when I was 16 years old (Photo by Ker Robertson/Getty Images)

I started my working life as a sales assistant in Sports Direct when I was 16 years old.

I needed to work alongside my sixth form studies because I couldn’t afford the up-to-date text books I knew I needed to get the top grades and earn my place at the London School of Economics. I worked as often as I could for minimum wage.

Most of the shifts offered on a zero-hours contract are short and irregular. I would travel an hour into work and back just to earn a little bit of extra money.

Once you subtracted the bus fare and a couple of quid for lunch, my daily earnings were derisory. Many at the time told me it simply wasn’t worth it and the truth is that they were right.




I worked alongside employees who were just a little bit older than me who were on an increased minimum wage. Then there were those who were 21 who were on a little bit extra. And then the over 25s were on even more as well.

Despite the fact that we were all doing the same job, Sports Direct were allowed to pay us all different rates, seniority or experience didn’t come into it either. A 30 year old could join the company and end up on nearly twice my wage despite the fact I had been there for six months.

You only need to look at the current 2019 rates to see why this system makes no sense. If someone starts a job in a shop aged 26 with no previous retail experience they are paid the Conservative version of the national living wage, £8.21.

Despite the fact that we were all doing the same job, we were all paid different rates, seniority or experience didn’t come into it.

If a 21 year old starts that same job with no retail experience they are paid £7.70. If a 19 year old does the same, they are paid £6.15, and if you are 17 and just starting out, you’ll get £4.35 for the same job.

None of these people have any retail experience. They are discriminated on purely because of their age.

The situation is worse for those on apprenticeships, with those aged 16-18 paid a derisory £3.90 an hour whilst those over the age of 18 are afforded the national minimum wage relevant to their age group.

This is simply madness and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There can be no defence for the continuation of wage discrimination on the basis of age.

The Labour Party’s latest announcement – that they will also pay all those under the age of 18 a genuine living wage higher than £10 – is a welcome one for working class young people. It is high time that equal pay for equal labour was reignited as a campaign for workers across the country.

During the 2017 general election, Jeremy Corbyn was asked whether Labour’s pledge on the minimum wage would apply to those under the age of 16 and he replied that the policy ‘should apply to all workers’.

This confirmation of that fact is an encouraging sign of the radical approach that is needed to for today’s world at work.

The Intergenerational Fund found that young people’s prospects had declined by more than 10 per cent between 2010 and 2015.

Though nearly three years old, this report highlighted the worsening financial crisis for young people specifically given the stagnation of wages and the rise of zero-hours contracts.

For today’s young people, job insecurity has become the norm. It will take bold proposals like this one to ensure that we reverse that trend for good.



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