According to the TUC, two thirds of the 950,000 beneficiaries of the 1.2% increase will be women.
The increase will also benefit public finances by £100 million, with workers paying £58 million more in income tax and National Insurance Contributions and the Government saving £44 million in tax credits and benefits.
Commenting on the increase in the minimum wage, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The raise is a modest one but it will put extra cash in the pockets of some of the UK's most low paid workers. The Low Pay Commission was right to withstand pressure from business to freeze the minimum wage during the recession.
"The recession was caused by very highly paid people damaging the nation's financial system. It would not be fair to make the low paid suffer a wage freeze while City bankers still get bonuses, and when there is no economic need to do so."
