The UK government presented the introduction of the National Minimum Wage in April 1999 as an attempt to limit the extent and degree of exploitation in the labour market. In its evidence for the Low Pay Commission's second report, the government expressed the hope that the new regulations would prevent employers from competing on the basis of ‘poverty wages’ while signalling to employees that ‘work pays’ (Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 1999: 6). Homeworking is frequently associated with low pay and homeworkers were explicitly identified as being among those who stood to gain most from a minimum wage (Low Pay Commission 1998). The Low Pay Commission estimated that a third of all homeworkers would experience financial benefits as a result of the new legislation.