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UK Workers Do It Right
From the FT
As EU Constitution talks try to bring British workers under the the protection of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, perhaps European workers would be better served by receiving the same rights as their comrades in Britain. A new survey by Eurostat, the EU's statistical arm, shows that the minimum wage in Britain is one of the highest in the EU - and only a tiny proportion of Brits are on the minimum level.
The survey shows that Britain's minimum wage is the third highest in Europe, at €1,361 per month. Luxembourg leads with €1,570 while Ireland comes second at €1,403.
Bulgaria (92) and Romania (114) prop up the bottom of the table.
The results of the survey are published in the FT: What's particularly interesting is that only 1.8 percent of British workers are on the minimum wage, compared to a whopping 16.8 percent of French workers, where the minimum wage is €1,254 per month.
The minimum wage is a hot political issue in France: Left-wing Presidential candidates spoke of raising it to €1,500 immediately. While it is easy to dismiss their demands as lacking economic sense, the fact that nearly a sixth of French workers languish on the minimum wage is an economic problem in its own right - never mind the nine percent of workers who remain unemployed.
The level of British workers on minimum wage is among the lowest in Europe. Spain's level is lower, but then so is its minimum wage (€666).
Can any EURSOC-reading economists fill us in with why this is the case?
Meanwhile in Germany - where there is no minimum wage - talks on installing one seem to be getting nowhere. Angela Merkel's grand coalition of centrist Christian Democrats and left-wing Socialists is mired in negotiations, with the left and unions calling for the introduction of a relatively high minimum wage while Merkel's bloc hold off, preferring not to shake up the "consensus bargaining" that has set wage levels traditionally.
