There is "scant evidence" the national living wage can alleviate poverty, the Institute of Economic Affairs claims.

The national living wage should be scrapped along with plans to curb bosses' earnings, a think-tank has said. The Institute of Economic Affairs says the Government should abandon its plan to increase the national living wage to more than £9 per hour by 2020. The pro-free market organisation also says there is "little evidence the gender pay gap results from discrimination," and is calling on the Government to scrap the planned publication of "crude league tables." The report comes after Prime Minister Theresa May set out plans for tougher corporate governance amid concern over events at companies such as BHS and Sports Direct. Mrs May's new Government has already shied away from one potential flashpoint with big business by watering down plans to tackle obesitythis week. The national living wage was introduced by the former chancellor George Osborne in April 2016, at a rate of £7.20 per hour for people over the age of 25. The IEA report suggests "there is scant evidence that the national living wage is an effective tool to alleviate poverty."....Read more here