In 2021 the prorated minimum wage in Spain rose to 1,126 euros. This is 24% more than the European average, and much higher than Portugal, the Czech Republic or Lithuania, to name but a few of the countries that have surpassed us in terms of GDP per capita in recent years, explains Daniel Rodríguez in Expansión. The Spanish government – which has agreed with the trade unions to raise the…
Fernando González Urbaneja | Wages are set by the market, by hook or by crook. But behind this axiom there are exceptions or nuances. Wages are set by agreement, often asymmetrical, between the payer and the payee. Either through a verbal or individual contractual agreement or through a collective bargaining agreement of any range. In this dynamic, the State intervenes, of course, with mandatory rules. The most typical intervention is…
With one in four Spanish companies in insolvency – according to estimates from the Bank of Spain – the government is set to raise the minimum wage – standing at 950 euros – again, after increasing it by 31% since 2018. Employers are opposed, and point out that according to studies by the Bank of Spain, the sharp rise in 2019 must have led to the loss of 180,000 jobs.
Fernando G. Urbaneja | The objective of a minimum wage of 1,000 euros a month (full time, 14,000 euros a month) has entered the political and social agenda at the initiative of Podemos, with lukewarm support from their socialist partners.
Establishing a minimum wage is a policy which is widely extended in the UE: 22 countries implement it. That said, it is not free from controversy. In general, setting a minimum wage aims to protect workers with fewer qualifications and/or work experience. But depending on the level at which it is set, it can have a negative effect on employment.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | The debate about the minimum wage is making big headlines both in the U.S. and in Europe, although for very different reasons. In Washington, the main issue is whether to raise it, since at $7.25 per hour the richest country in the world pays less per hour to many other developed countries.In Europe, Germany has joined the minimum wage club as one of the highlights of the coalition agreement, and France is increasing it by 1.1 per cent. In Spain the minimum wage was frozen two years ago due to austerity measures, and today minimum wage workers are struggling to make ends meet. Still, they can still enjoy free health insurance, education or a paid vacation, something that their American counterparts cannot even dream of.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | The planned strike of fast-food workers in 100 cities on Thursday has stirred the debate about the minimum wage, which is among the lowest in all OECD countries. America is a much richer country today than 30 years ago, although the inflation-adjusted wages of nonsupervisory workers in retail trade have fallen almost 30 percent since the 70s. Underpaid jobs seem to be the new normal, many economists are warning.
BERLIN | By Presseurop| The contract for a new grand coalition government between Angela Merkel’s Christian democrats and the Social Democratic Party, which was presented on November 27, has not met with much enthusiasm in the German press. For some, the long-awaited deal is too generous to the left, while others argue that it fails to take into account the interests of Europe.
