an article by Brian Fabo (Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and
Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI))
and Sharon Sarah Belli (
Central European University (CEU))
published in IZA Journal of Labor Policy Volume 6 Article 4 (2017)
Abstract
Minimum wage is one of the most debated issues in the labour policy area. Often perceived as a trade-off between employment and equality in earnings, the debate on minimum wage is highly polarized.
With regard to the undergoing discussions on the Social Pillar of the European integration, we aim to extend the debate to include the aspect of minimum living standards, by empirically showing the gap between minimum wages and the minimum living wages in the peripheral countries of the European Union.
JEL Classification: J39
Full text (HTML)
Showing posts with label living_wage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label living_wage. Show all posts
Friday, 13 October 2017
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Faith in unions: From safe spaces to organised labour?
an article by Jane Holgate (University of Leeds, UK) published in Capital & Class volume 37 Number 2 (June 2013)
Abstract
Despite the UK trade union movement’s avowedly secular nature, its antecedents show that religious beliefs greatly influenced many early trade unionists and, in some cases, contributed to the formation of a trade union consciousness.
This paper considers the way trade union leaders in the 19th and 20th centuries drew upon religious teachings of social justice to organise their fellow workers. This context provides background for understanding how today a similar ideological commitment to collectivisation and social justice may be held by workers of faith; and how the adoption of a ‘militant secularism’ by some trade unionists may result in the closing of these conceptual spaces.
Abstract
Despite the UK trade union movement’s avowedly secular nature, its antecedents show that religious beliefs greatly influenced many early trade unionists and, in some cases, contributed to the formation of a trade union consciousness.
This paper considers the way trade union leaders in the 19th and 20th centuries drew upon religious teachings of social justice to organise their fellow workers. This context provides background for understanding how today a similar ideological commitment to collectivisation and social justice may be held by workers of faith; and how the adoption of a ‘militant secularism’ by some trade unionists may result in the closing of these conceptual spaces.
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Modelling demand for low skilled/low paid labour: exploring the employment trade-offs of a living wage
NIESR Discussion Paper (Number 404) by Rebecca Riley published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (January 2013)
Abstract
This paper analyses labour demand for low skill/low pay labour in order to explore the potential employment trade-offs associated with moving to a Living Wage.
Using industry sector panel data we model demand for labour classified into 5 groups defined by age and highest educational qualification.
Low pay is most prevalent amongst the less skilled and the young.
Amongst the 11 market sector industry groups we consider, the three sectors that would face the largest rise in their wage bill were all employers to sign up to the Living Wage are: Wholesale & Retail, Hotels & Catering; Other Community, Social & Personal Services; and less skill intensive manufacturing industries.
Our calculations suggest that, conditional on the level of output and worker effort, these cost increases would reduce employers’ demand for young low-skilled employees in the private sector by approximately 300,000.
The analysis highlights the importance of allowing for labour substitution in considering the employment demand effects of exogenous shifts in wages. We find that in aggregate the reduction in conditional labour demand with the Living Wage is around 160,000; this is around half the reduction in the demand for young lower-skilled employees because employers substitute younger with more experienced workers.
The number of employees who would see their earnings rise with a Living Wage far outweighs the estimated reduction in labour demand.
Full text (PDF 38pp)
Abstract
This paper analyses labour demand for low skill/low pay labour in order to explore the potential employment trade-offs associated with moving to a Living Wage.
Using industry sector panel data we model demand for labour classified into 5 groups defined by age and highest educational qualification.
Low pay is most prevalent amongst the less skilled and the young.
Amongst the 11 market sector industry groups we consider, the three sectors that would face the largest rise in their wage bill were all employers to sign up to the Living Wage are: Wholesale & Retail, Hotels & Catering; Other Community, Social & Personal Services; and less skill intensive manufacturing industries.
Our calculations suggest that, conditional on the level of output and worker effort, these cost increases would reduce employers’ demand for young low-skilled employees in the private sector by approximately 300,000.
The analysis highlights the importance of allowing for labour substitution in considering the employment demand effects of exogenous shifts in wages. We find that in aggregate the reduction in conditional labour demand with the Living Wage is around 160,000; this is around half the reduction in the demand for young lower-skilled employees because employers substitute younger with more experienced workers.
The number of employees who would see their earnings rise with a Living Wage far outweighs the estimated reduction in labour demand.
Full text (PDF 38pp)
Friday, 25 January 2013
Beyond the Bottom Line: The challenges and opportunities of a living wage
via Resolution Foundation Publications
Beyond the Bottom Line, a joint report from the Resolution Foundation and IPPR, presents the first full economic analysis of the living wage in the UK, including:
Beyond the Bottom Line: The challenges and opportunities of a living wage by Kayte Lawton (IPPR) and Matthew Pennycook (Resolution Foundation) (PDF 78pp)
Beyond the Bottom Line, a joint report from the Resolution Foundation and IPPR, presents the first full economic analysis of the living wage in the UK, including:
- modelling its potential impact on labour demand and considering the potential costs of living wages for employers;
- analysing which workers and families benefit most from the living wage; and
- quantifying the fiscal savings to government of wider living wage coverage.
Beyond the Bottom Line: The challenges and opportunities of a living wage by Kayte Lawton (IPPR) and Matthew Pennycook (Resolution Foundation) (PDF 78pp)
Monday, 12 November 2012
Living wage research for KPMG: …
current trends in household finances and structural analysis of hourly wages
an economic research paper by Markit Economics published October 2012
Executive summary
KPMG Living Wage Household Finance Index survey
i) Key findings for October:
Structure of hourly pay across UK jobs and regions*
iii) Key findings:
Full text (PDF 31pp)
an economic research paper by Markit Economics published October 2012
Executive summary
KPMG Living Wage Household Finance Index survey
i) Key findings for October:
- Exactly 41% of people earning below the Living Wage reported worsening finances
- Six times as many saw savings fall (30%) as those that indicated a rise (5%
- Higher debt contrasted with a decline in debt among people above the Living Wage
- Squeeze on cash availability much greater for people earning below the Living Wage
- Actual spending rose at similar rates on both sides of the Living Wage threshold…
- …but people earning below the Living Wage reported a much steeper drop in their appetite for major purchases
- Current household finances
- Savings
- Cash availability
- Workplace activity
- Appetite for major purchases
- Ease of access to unsecured credit
Data source: Markit
Structure of hourly pay across UK jobs and regions*
iii) Key findings:
- An estimated one-in-five workers across the UK are earning below the Living Wage
- This amounts to some 4.82 million people
- The largest occupational category within this is sales & retail assistants, of which there are an estimated 780,000 people earning less than the Living Wage
- As a proportion of all workers, the highest prevalence of sub-Living Wage earners is among bar staff (an estimated 90% of workers in this category) and waiters & waitresses (85%), partly reflecting reliance on discretionary tips to top up earnings in these categories
- Elsewhere, the highest proportion of below Living Wage earners is in kitchen & catering assistants, elementary personal services occupations and launders, dry cleaners & pressers (all 75%)
- Below Living Wage estimates vary across regions, with Northern Ireland (24%) having the highest proportion of workers below the Living Wage
- London and the South East have the lowest proportion of those earning less than the Living Wage (both 16%)
*Data source:
Markit estimates based on ONS figures
Markit estimates based on ONS figures
Full text (PDF 31pp)
Monday, 5 November 2012
Where next for the living wage?
via The Staggers by Matthew Pennycook
Progress on low pay is imperative.
Tomorrow [now today] marks the start of the first Living Wage week.
It is tangible proof that, 11 years after a small broad-based East London community alliance revived an idea first forged in the industrial heartlands of 1870s Britain, momentum for increased living wage coverage continues to gather pace.
And with good reason: at a time when powerful forces are bearing down on wages at the bottom end of the labour market, living wage campaigns have delivered tangible gains for thousands of low-paid workers.
More widely, living wage initiatives have served as a powerful rallying cry against endemic levels of low-paid work, highlighting the power of social norms in challenging a low-pay, low-productivity economic model that is anything but pre-determined.
Continue reading
Progress on low pay is imperative.
Tomorrow [now today] marks the start of the first Living Wage week.
It is tangible proof that, 11 years after a small broad-based East London community alliance revived an idea first forged in the industrial heartlands of 1870s Britain, momentum for increased living wage coverage continues to gather pace.
And with good reason: at a time when powerful forces are bearing down on wages at the bottom end of the labour market, living wage campaigns have delivered tangible gains for thousands of low-paid workers.
More widely, living wage initiatives have served as a powerful rallying cry against endemic levels of low-paid work, highlighting the power of social norms in challenging a low-pay, low-productivity economic model that is anything but pre-determined.
Continue reading
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