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The recent mobilization by living wage movements and unions to raise minimum wages have put the issue of low-wage work at the center of political debates in several countries. To study the position of political parties on this issue, we use electoral manifestos from 18 western democracies from 1990 to 2019. The results show that left-wing parties mention much more often the issue of low-wage work than right-wing parties, especially in countries with a weak degree of corporatism. The different categories of respectively left- and right-wing parties are quite similar in their mentions of low-wage work issues. However, ecologist parties mention low-wage work issues less often than other left parties and radical left parties tend to make broad criticisms of low-wage work more often than center-left parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages represents a watershed initiative adding substance to the EU's social dimension. It contains two ambitious objectives: establishing the minimum level of statutory minimum wages at 60% of the gross median wage, and increasing collective bargaining coverage (CBC) to at least 80% of workers. In this article, we assess how statutory minimum wages and collective bargaining coverage are associated with the likelihood of low pay. Using a time series cross-section of EU-SILC for income years 2004–2019, we identify and assess the absolute and relative size of 'effective wage floors' for full-time employees in 30 countries. We specify multilevel, random effects within-between regression models to assess the individual and joint associations of SMW and collective bargaining coverage with wage floors. Our results indicate that SMWs and CBC both have distinct roles in establishing the effective wage floor. First, higher collective bargaining coverage is on average associated with a lower share of workers earning below 60% gross median wages. Second, higher SMWs are strongly associated with higher effective wage floors. Third, both collective bargaining coverage and union density are strongly associated with higher wage floors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimum wages are increasingly discussed as an instrument against (in-work) poverty and income inequality in Europe. Just recently the German government opted for a substantial ad-hoc increase of the minimum-wage level to €12 per hour mentioning poverty prevention as an explicit goal. We use the introduction of the federal minimum wage in Germany in 2015 to study its redistributive impact on disposable household incomes. Based on the German Socio-Economic Panel we analyse changes in poverty and income inequality investigating different mechanisms of the transmission from individual gross wage-rates to disposable household incomes. We find that the minimum wage is an inadequate tool for income redistribution because it does not target poor households. Individuals affected by the minimum wage are not primarily in households at the bottom of the income distribution but are spread across it. Consequently, welfare dependence decreases only marginally. The withdrawal of transfers or employment effects cannot explain the limited effect on poverty. Complementary simulations show that neither full compliance nor a markedly higher level of €12 per hour can render the minimum wage more effective in reducing poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, South Africa implemented a national minimum wage (NMW) for the first time. This is an important intervention, given that the South African labour market continues to generate some of the highest levels of income and wealth inequality in the world. The minimum wage is intended as a structural intervention to transform the labour market by setting a wage floor, while highlighting larger issues that continue to reproduce inequality in the labour market. The process raises interesting questions about the role of social dialogue in the policy making process, especially at a time when the roles of experts and evidence are contested in political economy. This article reviews the national minimum wage process from two angles: assessing the economic evidence and examining the political economy of minimum wages in South Africa. We take this approach in order to better understand the roles of evidence and politics in the policy making process. While both processes were contested, important differences emerge from the analysis: the economic lens highlights the intersection of evidence and ideology, while a political economy review identifies important lines of contestation in the policy making process itself. The national minimum wage process shows that institutionalised social dialogue continues to be a central part of the policy making process, but that it cannot be taken for granted: the particular configuration of the social dialogue process and the roles assigned to each player matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While some US cities and states have taken the lead in protecting labour rights, a counter-trend is found in state pre-emptions – state laws that prohibit cities from making any ordinances or laws related to certain policy areas. What drives these state-level actions that undermine progressive city leadership in the USA? We examine recent state legislations that pre-empt city authority to regulate labour conditions and protect labour rights in the private and public sectors (i.e. minimum wage, paid leave, fair scheduling, right to work, prevailing wage). We use a 50-state regression model to explore what differentiates states with more pre-emption of labour rights and potential sources of pushback. States with low minimum wages, which have never had strong labour protections, pre-empt more. Unions can be sources of pushback – greater unionisation is linked to fewer pre-emptions. However, in Republican-controlled states, more unionisation is linked to more pre-emptions. We use Wisconsin as an example of a state that adopted anti-union policies – despite strong pushback from the public – to explore how strong labour protections can act as a 'trigger' for states to undermine labour rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimum wages legislation in the United Kingdom applies to those aged 16 years or older. Evidence is presented that children believe that their wage levels should be ‘fair’. On one hand, such views have emerged from focus groups of working children. On the other, various pressure groups representing young people are seeking to establish fair payment to child workers. It is argued that the government, trade unions and other bodies have failed to adequately address the protection of young workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When do voters win? We derive conditions under which a democracy will produce policies that favor the voter over special interests in a setting where politicians can be influenced by contributions from special interests, and are also motivated by electoral incentives. We show that increasing office holding benefits, increasing political competition, decreasing potential rents to special interests, and increasing the salience of policy imply improved policies for the representative voter. We examine panel data on the ratio of taxes paid by individuals relative to corporations in the United States and show that it is negatively correlated with political competition, office holding benefits, and policy salience, as predicted by the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The much debated Minimum Wage Ordinance eventually secured passage in the Hong Kong Legislative Council on 17 July 2010 and is to take effect on 1 May 2011. A Minimum Wage Council established under the Ordinance has made recommendations to the Chief Executive on the initial minimum wage level. This paper compares the minimum wage legislation in Hong Kong with that of other Western jurisdictions and seeks to identify what the former can learn from these international experiences in setting a statutory minimum wage. In the final analysis, it is argued that these experiences provide a good platform for implementing a broadly similar regime in the Special Administrative Region, albeit one with 'Hong Kong characteristics'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines the basic income guarantee (BIG). He states that the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) defines BIG as an income unconditionally granted on individual basis without a means test or work requirement. He reflects on the three BIG schemes which include unconditional basic income (UBI) of Van Parijs, equal shares of the national income of Ross Zucker, and plan to end the welfare state by Charles Murray. The author suggests on alternative basic income scheme by recommending legislation and retainment of a long-term priority goal on poverty reduction and maintain the basic structure of the welfare state, thereby formulating the scheme that meets basic needs.

Poverty among workers is a perennial problem. Recently there has been much interest in the idea of living wages. As mechanisms to increase wages above the `poverty line', living wages present an alternative to New Labour's `making work pay' strategy; a combination of minimum wage regulation and means-tested, in-work relief Through a comparison of living wages and the `making work pay' strategy this paper critically examines both by focusing upon the aims of the two strategies, their ability to deliver higher incomes to workers and their families, and the assumptions upon which the two strategies are based. The paper demonstrates that while the `making work pay' strategy is more sensitive to need than living wages, outside of wider changes in the social relations of capital and gender, the two strategies are similar in buttressing capitalism and institutionalizing stereotypes of women as dependants and carers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses about five books related to the poverty of journalism. The books are, "Below the Breadline: Living on the Minimum Wage," by Fran Abrams, "Nickel and Dimed: Undercover in Low Wage USA," by Barbara Ehrenreich, "Hard Work: Life in Low-Pay Britain," by Polly Toynbee, "Poverty First Hand: Poor People Speak for Themselves," by Peter Beresford, David Green, Ruth Lister and Kristy Woodward, "Biography and Social Exclusion in Europe: Experiences and Life Journeys," edited by Prue Chamberlayne, Michael Rustin and Tom Wengraf. Abrams identifies in her book, how the actual value of the minimum wage varies. Tonybee's account not only integrates and contextualizes her experiences within a wider discussion of public policy, but also provides an historical perspective drawn from her involvement in a project in the late 1960's. Ehrenreich's book describes poverty in a non-welfare state of the U.S.A. Beresford et al. text is written from the perspective that the most important contributors to the poverty debate are not, well-paid journalists, academics or policy makers, but them, those that experience poverty firsthand. Chamberlayne et al. take a slightly more traditional approach to the exploration of poverty and social exclusion, although they still emphasize the voices of their subjects.