To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people are in receipt of the national minimum wage, broken down by (a) region, (b) county, (c) gender, (d) age group and (e) ethnic origin. [110313]

In Spring 2002 there were around 760,000 jobs in the UK that paid at or just above the level of the National Minimum Wage.The table provides a break down of this figure by region.

Number of jobs paying at or just above the NMW rate1 in Spring 2002; United Kingdom
North East	60,000
North West	120,000
Yorkshire and Humberside	90,000
East Midlands	70,000
West Midlands	80,000
Eastern	50,000
London	30,000
South East	60,000
South West	60,000
Wales	40,000
Scotland	70,000
Northern Ireland	2—
UK	760,000
1 Defined as paid at £4.10–£4.19 for 22 + and £3.50–3.59 for 18–21 year olds.
2 Sample size too small for reliable estimate.
Source:
ONS central estimates of Low Pay, Labour Force Survey & New Earnings Survey.

In Spring 2002, around 560,000 women were in jobs that paid at or just above the level of the NMW compared to around 200,000 men.Around 50,000 18–21 year olds were in jobs that paid at or just above the NMW compared to around 710,000 adults aged 22 and over.Estimates by country, and ethnicity are not available due to sample sizes being too small to provide reliable estimates.