Lowest remuneration which can be paid legally in a state for working
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2022 minimum wages in the OECD, in US dollars purchasing power parity[1][needs update]
Country
Dollars per hour
Australia
13.60
Luxembourg
13.60
Germany
13.50
France
13.50
New Zealand
13.20
Belgium
12.60
Netherlands
12.00
United Kingdom
11.80
Spain
11.40
Canada
11.10
Ireland
10.10
Slovenia
9.60
South Korea
9.50
Turkey
8.80
Japan
8.50
Poland
8.40
Lithuania
8.00
Portugal
7.40
United States
7.25
Israel
7.00
Romania
6.60
Czech Republic
6.30
Croatia
6.20
Hungary
6.20
Greece
5.90
Estonia
5.70
Slovakia
5.70
Latvia
4.80
Bulgaria
4.30
Costa Rica
4.10
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century.[2] Because minimum wages increase the cost of labor, companies often try to avoid minimum wage laws by using gig workers, by moving labor to locations with lower or nonexistent minimum wages, or by automating job functions.[3] Minimum wage policies can vary significantly between countries or even within a country, with different regions, sectors, or age groups having their own minimum wage rates. These variations are often influenced by factors such as the cost of living, regional economic conditions, and industry-specific factors.[4]
The movement for minimum wages was first motivated as a way to stop the exploitation of workers in sweatshops, by employers who were thought to have unfair bargaining power over them. Over time, minimum wages came to be seen as a way to help lower-income families. Modern national laws enforcing compulsory union membership which prescribed minimum wages for their members were first passed in New Zealand in 1894.[5] Although minimum wage laws are now in effect in many jurisdictions, differences of opinion exist about the benefits and drawbacks of a minimum wage. Additionally, minimum wage policies can be implemented through various methods, such as directly legislating specific wage rates, setting a formula that adjusts the minimum wage based on economic indicators, or having wage boards that determine minimum wages in consultation with representatives from employers, employees, and the government.[6]
Supply and demand models suggest that there may be employment losses from minimum wages; however, minimum wages can increase the efficiency of the labor market in monopsony scenarios, where individual employers have a degree of wage-setting power over the market as a whole.[7][8][9] Supporters of the minimum wage say it increases the standard of living of workers, reduces poverty, reduces inequality, and boosts morale.[10] In contrast, opponents of the minimum wage say it increases poverty and unemployment because some low-wage workers "will be unable to find work ... [and] will be pushed into the ranks of the unemployed".[11][12][13]
^"Real minimum wages from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development". Stats.oecd.org. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
^"ILO 2006: Minimum wages policy (PDF)" (PDF). Ilo.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
^Larsson, Anthony; Teigland, Robin (2020). The digital transformation of labor: Automation, the gig economy and welfare. Routledge, London: Routledge Studies in Labour Economics. doi:10.4324/9780429317866. hdl:10419/213906. ISBN 978-0-429-31786-6. S2CID 213586833. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
^Neumark, David (2019). "The Econometrics and Economics of the Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Getting from Known Unknowns to Known Knowns". German Economic Review. 20 (3): e1–e32. doi:10.1111/geer.12162. S2CID 55558316. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
^"A brief history of the minimum wage in New Zealand". Newshub. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
^Dube, Arindrajit (1994). "Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania". American Economic Review. 84 (4): 772–793. JSTOR 2118030. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
^"$15 Minimum Wage". www.igmchicago.org. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
^Leonard, Thomas C. (2000). "The Very Idea of Apply Economics: The Modern Minimum-Wage Controversy and Its Antecedents". In Backhouse, Roger E.; Biddle, Jeff (eds.). Toward a History of Applied Economics. Durham: Duke University Press. pp. 117–144. ISBN 978-0-8223-6485-6.
^Gwartney, James David; Clark, J. R.; Stroup, Richard L. (1985). Essentials of Economics. New York: Harcourt College Pub; 2 edition. p. 405. ISBN 978-0123110350.
^"Should We Raise The Minimum Wage?". The Perspective. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
^"The Young and the Jobless". The Wall Street Journal. 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
^Black, John (18 September 2003). Oxford Dictionary of Economics. Oxford University Press. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-19-860767-0.
^Cite error: The named reference Card&Krueger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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