In case you had any doubt, it's good to be the Queen.
British taxpayers just gave the Queen of England a boost of 5 million pounds, or $7.56 million, in the amount of money available to her to carry out her duties, the Guardian reports.
Meanwhile, the UK is considering freezing or even cutting its minimum wage at the same time, the Financial Times reports. In addition, the British government is embarking on a dramatic pullback of its famed welfare state, which includes cuts to subsidized housing, caps on welfare benefits and changes to the system so that benefits and tax credits no longer rise with inflation, according to a separate Guardian report.
If the UK moves forward with the minimum wage plan -- which could affect the nearly 1 million employees working at that level -- it would be the first time ever the country has frozen the pay floor, according to the Telegraph. UK officials are considering the freeze this time because they’re concerned that the yearly rises in the minimum wage, which is currently 6.19 pounds, have been having an adverse effect on the country’s employment situation. UK unemployment rose in February, though the jobless rate held at 7.8 percent, according to the BBC.
But British job-seekers aren’t the only ones in a tough spot. The number of working British people in poverty rose by one-fifth over the last decade, the Guardian reports, indicating that now may not the most opportune time to cut already low pay or government benefits.
At least lawmakers in the U.S. aren’t mirroring their (unintentionally) ironic colleagues across the pond. House Republicans unanimously rejected a rise in the minimum wage last month, but congressional leaders also voted to block an increase in their own pay.
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