Low Pay Commission call for research for 2026 and beyond
Invitation to tender for research for the Low Pay Commission's 2026 report and beyond
Documents
Details
Each year the Low Pay Commission (LPC) assesses the impact of increases in the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW). We continuously monitor the impact of minimum wage upratings on the sectors and groups of workers most affected, and on the labour market more generally. We wish to commission a number of new research projects to inform our future work.
The Low Pay Commission’s 2025 remit covered living standards, maintaining the NLW at at least two-thirds of median earnings and an intention to move to a single adult minimum wage for all workers aged 18 and over. Our recommendations made in October for an increase of 4.1 per cent in the NLW to £12.71 in April 2026, should ensure that the NLW will be at least two-thirds of median hourly earnings and more than keep pace with inflation.
We are particularly interested in research that assesses the impact of recent increases in the 16-17 Year Old, 18-20 Year Old and Apprentice Rates of the minimum wage. Findings will help inform the recommendations for further changes to these rates, including any lowering of the age threshold for the NLW or making structural changes to the Apprentice Rate.
We are also looking for projects that will provide novel approaches to evaluating the employment impacts of the NLW. Since the pandemic, some of the key data sources we use for econometric analysis of employment effects (particularly the Labour Force Survey) have suffered from data issues. We welcome proposals for research that uses alternative data sources or develops new methods to robustly estimate the impacts of recent increases.
We have also issued a call for projects looking at the productivity effects of the minimum wage. We are hoping for projects to investigate both within- and between- firm productivity effects.
Finally, we have issued an open call for any projects exploring themes related to the minimum wage, including the NLW. Some suggestions are provided in the Invitation to Tender, but we also welcome researchers’ own suggestions.
The Invitations to Tender are on Find a Tender. They have a deadline of Monday 2 February 2026 at 14:00.
This page hosts documents for the following invitations to tender:
LPC 2025/02 Invitation to Tender Quantitative Impact of Youth Rates
This call is for funding up to £40,000 + VAT. The project will be completed by the autumn of 2026. https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085130-2025?
LPC 2025/03 Invitation to Tender Research into young people’s experience of the labour market and minimum wages
This call is for funding up to £35,000 + VAT. The project will be completed by the autumn of 2026. https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085176-2025?
LPC 2025/04 Invitation to Tender Research relating to the Apprentice Rate of the minimum wage
This call is for funding up to £40,000 + VAT. The project will be completed by the autumn of 2026. https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085177-2025?
LPC 2025/05 Invitation to Tender Open Call for Research on the Minimum Wage
This call will fund up to three research projects. The maximum estimated value of any single contract is £45,000 (exclusive of VAT). However, we welcome proposals for smaller projects and anticipate bids will typically be in the range £25,000 to £40,000. These projects will be completed by the autumn of 2026. https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085178-2025?
LPC 2025/06 Invitation to Tender Employment Effects of the NLW
This call is for funding up to £80,000 + VAT but is extended with the final report not expected until summer/autumn 2027. https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085180-2025?
LPC 2025/07 Invitation to Tender Research related to the youth and apprentice rates of the minimum wage
This call is for funding up to £80,000 + VAT but is extended with the final report not expected until summer/autumn 2027. https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085183-2025?
LPC 2025/08 Invitation to Tender Impact of the minimum wage on productivity
This call is for funding up to £80,000 + VAT but is extended with the final report not expected until summer/autumn 2027. https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085184-2025?
Information about previous LPC research projects is available on our website.
Please direct all enquiries through tim.butcher@lowpay.gov.uk, copied to LPC@lowpay.gov.uk. Details of how to apply are given in the links provided for the individual calls. However, please let us know if the timescales and funding create any issues, particularly if you were seeking to undertake more long-term research.
The Standard Terms and Conditions (referred to in Schedule 6) can also be found in the links above.
Tenders must be sent to tim.butcher@lowpay.gov.uk (copied to LPC@lowpay.gov.uk) by the Tender Submission Deadline, 14:00 on Monday 2 February 2026.