“I remember when I realised I was earning just more than minimum wage despite gaining a high 2:1 degree from a reputable university,” says Tara, a 24-year-old marketing executive who graduated from Southampton University last year. “I try not to focus on it because of how frustrated I get.” Sam, who studied law at a Russell Group university and now works in government on £28,000 a year, has similar gripes: “I expected I’d be earning more.” What rankles Tara, Sam and many others in a similar position is not just being squeezed by stagnant wage growth, high inflation and heavy student debts, but that they’re barely earning more than the mandatory minimum. At two-thirds of median income, the UK’s increasingly generous minimum wage is now one of the highest in the world. In October, Rachel Reeves announced that from April next year the rate for those aged 21 and over will rise from £11.44 per hour to £12.21, a 6.7 per cent increase. This means that a person working full time on a minimum wage can expect to earn over £25,000 a year – very much in the same ballpark as the starting salaries for many graduate careers. “The implicit...