Labour Party Conference HuffPost Poll: Under-25s Should Be Given National Living Wage

Poll: Under-25s Should Be Given National Living Wage
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 15: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses the TUC Conference at The Brighton Centre on September 15, 2015 in Brighton, England. It was Mr Corbyn's first major speech since becoming leader of the party at the weekend and he received a standing ovation from the members of the TUC. (Photo by Mary Turner/Getty Images)
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 15: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses the TUC Conference at The Brighton Centre on September 15, 2015 in Brighton, England. It was Mr Corbyn's first major speech since becoming leader of the party at the weekend and he received a standing ovation from the members of the TUC. (Photo by Mary Turner/Getty Images)
Mary Turner via Getty Images

An overwhelming majority of people believe under-25s should be paid the same rate of living wage as older workers and should not have their housing benefit cut, according to a Survation poll for The Huffington Post UK.

The survey, conducted on the eve of the Labour Party conference in Brighton, also found that most people do not think under-16s should be given a vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

And the poll suggests there is a narrow lead for the 'In' campaign. Of those asked, 52% wanted to remain in the EU and 48% wanted to leave.

But the survey also found that, by a narrow majority of 51% to 49%, Conservative voters would vote for Brexit.

In his Budget, George Osborne announced that the new 'national living wage' for over-25s will rise from £6.50 an hour to £7.20 in April next year, before rising to at least £9 by 2020.

However 66% of voters believe the new higher rate should also be given to workers under-25, compared to 24% who do not.

Such a change is supported across the political spectrum. Tories back it 55% to 35%, Labour voters support it 74% to 19% and Ukip voters agree 69% to 20%.

HOUSING BENEFIT

In his Budget, the chancellor also announced that automatic entitlement to housing benefit will be scrapped for 18-21-year-olds. But according to the poll, 53% of people do not think under-25s should have their housing benefit abolished, with just 30% agreeing they should.

Tory voters are also split on the issue, with 40% supporting Osborne's policy and 41% opposing it. Labour voters think under-25s should be able to keep housing benefit by a margin of 63% to 21%.

EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP

Under pressure from his shadow cabinet, Corbyn has committed Labour to unambiguously supporting Britain's membership of the European Union.

According to the poll, 52% of people would vote to remain should a referendum be held today and 48% would vote to leave.

Labour voters overwhelmingly support membership, 64% to 36%, while Conservatives are split, with 49% in favour of staying in the EU compared to 51% who want to leave.

Interestingly 11% of Ukip voters want to stay part of the EU, with 89% wanting to leave.

In June, Tory MPs defeated a bid to let 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in the referendum. The Survation survey found that 49% of voters supported this decision, while 40% thought young people should be allowed to have their say.

Among Labour voters, 47% thought 16 year olds should be given a vote and 43% thought they should not. Among Tory voters 64% do not think young people should be allowed to vote, while 26% thought they should.

TRUST IN MEDIA

The Huffington Post UK poll also asked voters which news sources people trusted the most for news about Labour and Jeremy Corbyn.

By a long way, TV was the most trusted source. With 58% of people having faith in broadcast news. 14% trusted digital news sites while 13% trusted newspapers. 7% of those asked thought Facebook and Twitter were the most trustworthy.

Younger people were more likely to have faith in digital sites than older people. Among 18-34 year-olds, 18.5% trusted online news the most, compared to 13.9% of those aged 35 - 54 and just 10.9% of 55+.

Facebook and Twitter was also more trusted by those aged 18-34 (16%) compared to 7.2% among 35 - 54 year-olds and just 0.8% of those 55+.

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