Britain’s minimum wage, which provides a financial safety net for more than 1m workers, is the third highest out of 20 EU nations and almost twice the US federal level.

A report published on Tuesday by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical arm, says that the legal minimum pay in the UK, in January this year, was worth €1,361 a month for adult workers. This was bettered only in Luxembourg where the minimum was €1,570 a month and €1,403 in Ireland.