![\"Minimum](\"https:\/\/unitedexplanations.org\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/unexp_fb_photo25_salarios_minimos2013_en1.gif\" "\\"Minimum")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is minimum wage?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\nMinimum wage is the lowest amount a worker can be legally paid for his or her work. Twenty-one European countries have \u2013 in varying shapes and forms \u2013 a statutory national minimum wage (comparable to non-European countries, such as Canada, Japan and the USA). This group is made up of most of the EU-15 member states (Luxembourg and Portugal also have statutory national minimum wages) and all ten new member states. Whereas France, Greece, Portugal, Spain and the Benelux countries have a long tradition of protecting pay at the bottom of the labor market, Ireland and the UK did not introduce national minimum wage systems until the late 1990s. In Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy and Sweden \u2013 the remaining \u2018old\u2019 EU member states \u2013 as well as in Norway and Cyprus, collective wage agreements are the main mechanism used for regulating the lowest salaries.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The cost of living varies immensely between countries (a loaf of bread could cost \u20ac5 in one country and \u20ac2 in the next). In order to achieve a more reliable comparison of minimum wages, <\/b>Purchasing Power Parity<\/a> (PPP) can be applied. This measure takes into account the national variations in cost of living.<\/b><\/p>\nOne minimum wage for all of Europe?<\/b><\/h3>\n
Only a few weeks ago, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Euro Group<\/b>, proposed a common minimum wage and other solidarity measures to avoid losing \u201cthe social dimension of the European Union\u201d. Seeing as minimum wage in certain European countries is 11.5 times higher than in others, this would be no easy feat. Addressing the European Parliament\u2019s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Juncker stated: \u201c[i]t is essential to agree on a European minimum wage\u201d, because if it does not, the EU runs the risk of <\/b>“losing the support of the working class<\/b>\u201d. Last week, the seventeen Eurozone countries chose a new Euro Group president, Dutch Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem<\/b>, to succeed Mr. Juncker, who had been in office since 2005.<\/p>\nImportant notes on the graph above:<\/b><\/h3>\n
a) Germany <\/b>currently has no national minimum wage. While statutory minimum wages exist, they vary according to industry and region.<\/p>\n
b) Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland<\/b> do not have legally determined minimum wages. Salaries are regulated by industry, company or individual agreements.<\/p>\n
c) For countries where wages are paid out in 14 installments (Greece, Spain and Portugal<\/b>), salaries have been adjusted into 12 monthly installments.<\/p>\n
d) The minimum wages above are the gross amounts paid to full-time workers over 23 years of age<\/strong> (before personal income taxes and social security contributions).<\/p>\ne) The wages above apply to full-time<\/strong> employment (approximately 40 hours per week in most of the countries included).<\/p>\nf) Six countries have not yet published their adjustments of minimum wages<\/b>, as far as the author was able to ascertain: Luxembourg, Ireland, France, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia. In these cases, the wages for July 2012 are included. The United Kingdom updated<\/a> its minimum wage in October 2012.<\/p>\ng) Data<\/strong> was retrieved from Eurostat or other sources, except in the following cases: France<\/a>,\u00a0Malta<\/a>,\u00a0Bulgaria<\/a>,\u00a0Hungary<\/a>,\u00a0Estonia<\/a>,\u00a0Latvia<\/a>,\u00a0Lithuania<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Czech Republic<\/a>.<\/p>\nh) There is no \u2018precise\u2019 way to compare wages<\/b>. Purchasing Power Parity corrects the differences in average <\/i>costs of living between countries, but does not take into account the possible variations in price levels between cities within the same country. Moreover, many other factors may play a role, such as the number of children in a household, or the cost of pre-schooling.<\/p>\nFor more information, see:<\/b><\/h3>\n
Monthly minimum wages \u2013 country-specific information (situation as on 1 July 2012)<\/a><\/p>\nPay developments 2011<\/a><\/p>\nMinimum wage\u00a0statistics \u2013 Statistics Explained
\n<\/a><\/p>\nMinimum Wage in Europe\u00a0– Google Public Data Explorer<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Translation of the\u00a0original\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0in Spanish by Marie Vandendriessche<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is a nonprofit explanation<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minimum wage is the lowest amount a worker can be legally paid for his or her work. Twenty-one European countries have \u2013 in varying shapes and forms \u2013 a statutory national minimum wage (comparable to non-European countries, such as Canada, Japan and the USA). This group is made up of most of the EU-15 member states (Luxembourg and Portugal also have statutory national minimum wages) and all ten new member states. Whereas France, Greece, Portugal, Spain and the Benelux countries have a long tradition of protecting pay at the bottom of the labor market, Ireland and the UK did not introduce national minimum wage systems until the late 1990s. In Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy and Sweden \u2013 the remaining \u2018old\u2019 EU member states \u2013 as well as in Norway and Cyprus, collective wage agreements are the main mechanism used for regulating the lowest salaries.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The cost of living varies immensely between countries (a loaf of bread could cost \u20ac5 in one country and \u20ac2 in the next). In order to achieve a more reliable comparison of minimum wages, <\/b>Purchasing Power Parity<\/a> (PPP) can be applied. This measure takes into account the national variations in cost of living.<\/b><\/p>\n Only a few weeks ago, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Euro Group<\/b>, proposed a common minimum wage and other solidarity measures to avoid losing \u201cthe social dimension of the European Union\u201d. Seeing as minimum wage in certain European countries is 11.5 times higher than in others, this would be no easy feat. Addressing the European Parliament\u2019s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Juncker stated: \u201c[i]t is essential to agree on a European minimum wage\u201d, because if it does not, the EU runs the risk of <\/b>“losing the support of the working class<\/b>\u201d. Last week, the seventeen Eurozone countries chose a new Euro Group president, Dutch Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem<\/b>, to succeed Mr. Juncker, who had been in office since 2005.<\/p>\n a) Germany <\/b>currently has no national minimum wage. While statutory minimum wages exist, they vary according to industry and region.<\/p>\n b) Denmark, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland<\/b> do not have legally determined minimum wages. Salaries are regulated by industry, company or individual agreements.<\/p>\n c) For countries where wages are paid out in 14 installments (Greece, Spain and Portugal<\/b>), salaries have been adjusted into 12 monthly installments.<\/p>\n d) The minimum wages above are the gross amounts paid to full-time workers over 23 years of age<\/strong> (before personal income taxes and social security contributions).<\/p>\n e) The wages above apply to full-time<\/strong> employment (approximately 40 hours per week in most of the countries included).<\/p>\n f) Six countries have not yet published their adjustments of minimum wages<\/b>, as far as the author was able to ascertain: Luxembourg, Ireland, France, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia. In these cases, the wages for July 2012 are included. The United Kingdom updated<\/a> its minimum wage in October 2012.<\/p>\n g) Data<\/strong> was retrieved from Eurostat or other sources, except in the following cases: France<\/a>,\u00a0Malta<\/a>,\u00a0Bulgaria<\/a>,\u00a0Hungary<\/a>,\u00a0Estonia<\/a>,\u00a0Latvia<\/a>,\u00a0Lithuania<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Czech Republic<\/a>.<\/p>\n h) There is no \u2018precise\u2019 way to compare wages<\/b>. Purchasing Power Parity corrects the differences in average <\/i>costs of living between countries, but does not take into account the possible variations in price levels between cities within the same country. Moreover, many other factors may play a role, such as the number of children in a household, or the cost of pre-schooling.<\/p>\n Monthly minimum wages \u2013 country-specific information (situation as on 1 July 2012)<\/a><\/p>\n Pay developments 2011<\/a><\/p>\n Minimum wage\u00a0statistics \u2013 Statistics Explained Minimum Wage in Europe\u00a0– Google Public Data Explorer<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Translation of the\u00a0original\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0in Spanish by Marie Vandendriessche<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a nonprofit explanation<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One minimum wage for all of Europe?<\/b><\/h3>\n
Important notes on the graph above:<\/b><\/h3>\n
For more information, see:<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n