Minimum Wage around the World

[LadyTevar]

I was talking to Keevan in AIM when the subject of wages came up. We were both shocked to find out that what is considered in WV to be a good job with decent pay is below minimum wage in Scotland.

TeamhairTahal: *shrugs* I make 8.65/hour
TeamhairTahal: I can go to the cinema for $5 matinee... $11 night showing
KeevanC: $8.65 is less than the minimum wage here.
KeevanC: $9.17/hour is the minimum here and I get $9.45/hour for temp work.
TeamhairTahal: Nitram: Probably even less than the dole, I daresay
TeamhairTahal: The scary thing? Minimum wage in WV is $5.25
KeevanC: £2.70
KeevanC: Paper boys get more than that here.
TeamhairTahal: ouch.
TeamhairTahal: Waitresses get $2.50, then they're supposed to make up the rest with tips.
KeevanC: What the fuck? No one gets less than £4.20/hour for anything once they're over 18...and that's starting with things where you can expect tips, like the temp work I do...usually bar or waiting work.
TeamhairTahal: Welcome to America

Now, as you can see by what I've posted of the conversation (thanks Keevan!), there is a HUGE difference between American and British minimum wages. (This also might shed some more light on why we Americans are freaking at $2.50/gal gas prices.) To further show the difference, from later in the IM:

KeevanC: "The adult rate of the minimum wage (for workers aged 22 and over) should increase from its present hourly rate of £4.85 to £5.05 in October 2005, and to £5.35 in October 2006. The 2006 increase is subject to confirmation by the Commission in February 2006, to check that the economic conditions continue to make it appropriate."
KeevanC: Which comes out at going up from 9.16 US to 10.11 US over the next two years.
TeamhairTahal: Shit.
TeamhairTahal: Congress hasn't raised ours in 7-8yrs

This is disturbing, and I was wanting to get an idea from our other non-American members of what their country's Minimum Wage equals out to in American dollars, just to see if there's as big a difference.

[Keevan_Colton]

The quote I gave came from the DTI website, which has some more info on the minimum wage in the UK and how it works here for anyone interested.

And for anyone struggling to figure out what's what, this tool is quite handy

[Castor Troy]

Out of curiosity, how does minimum wage affect gas prices?

[Keevan_Colton]

Out of curiosity, how does minimum wage affect gas prices?

It doesnt directly, but the US has low low gas prices compared to all the european nations...but also it seems, way lower wages...making the relative cost higher than it would otherwise seem.

[SCRawl]

Out of curiosity, how does minimum wage affect gas prices?

I think that the issue was that for someone making a minimum wage which is so much smaller than that of our friends across the Atlantic, $2.50/gallon is a lot to pay for gasoline. Minimum wage affects one's ability to purchase gasoline, but can't really affect the price.

What does a litre of fuel go for in the UK these days? Where I live in Canada (near Toronto), it's now in the $0.80 to $0.90 range. Predictions call for $1/L in the summer, and it's hard to dispute that.

[mr friendly guy]

Out of curiosity, how does minimum wage affect gas prices?

As with all wages, it has some relation to inflation. With increase money is expected to lead to increase demand leading to increase prices. I am interested into exactly how much inflationary pressure it would place. Although I don't think when they were talking about minimum wage and gas prices, they were refering to it in that sense.

[Keevan_Colton]

What does a litre of fuel go for in the UK these days? Where I live in Canada (near Toronto), it's now in the $0.80 to $0.90 range. Predictions call for $1/L in the summer, and it's hard to dispute that.

We had a thread where gas prices were discussed lately, it's over here

[Rye]

The impression I get from family members that have been to the US is that everything is pretty much cheaper over there, we've probably just been abused by inflation or goods are just more costly to get here. Probably the same in the mediterranean.

[Keevan_Colton]

The impression I get from family members that have been to the US is that everything is pretty much cheaper over there, we've probably just been abused by inflation or goods are just more costly to get here. Probably the same in the mediterranean.

The wage for a waitress can drop to the equivalent of about £1/hour...inflation isnt that bad...

[Queeb Salaron]

Hell, I just got my salary increased to $10/hour, because Cheers wants to keep its employees above the median retail pay of $9.67 (or so) in Boston.

The waitresses make $2.75, I think, but on a good week they'll rake in $500-$800 in tips.

Granted, I'm in the city. But even so, even the cleaners make $7/hour.

[TrailerParkJawa]

I don't know what min wage is in California anymore. It is supposed to be the minimum required wage to meet poverty level. Yet, it is so expensive here you need to be earning 50K a year just to be able to rent a modest 2 bdrm apt. Forget owning the median home, for that you need 150-180K a year.

Anyone working a min wage job, is hopefully someone that just needs extra income or is a teenager lacking job skills. Otherwise you are in a world of hurt.

[Thinkmarble]

Germany does not have a de jure minimum wage, but as a minimum lifestyle is guaranteed ( it recently dropped to around 300 or so euro plus cost of rent plus health care) we have an de facto minimum wage.

[Crayz9000]

Anyone working a min wage job, is hopefully someone that just needs extra income or is a teenager lacking job skills. Otherwise you are in a world of hurt.

CA minimum wage is currently $6.75. I'm basically making that right now as an extra (since all the tech jobs down here all want obscene experience and I haven't been able to get anything yet). However, we get a lot of overtime, which makes up for it.

Of course, the last thing I need is Social Security deductions on top of that, and since my father claims me as dependant I'm losing about $300/month. Bastards.

[Slartibartfast]

Assuming 8 daily work hours, and about 20 workdays per month, my last job payed me what here would be considered a decent wage, about 2.90 $/hour, which is about 3 times as high as the minimum wage.

Gas prices are about twice as high as the USA.

[PeZook]

824 zlotys a month, or about 256 dollars. With a 40-hour working week, this equals around 1,6 dollars an hour.

[The Yosemite Bear]

I'm union, I'm a bartender and I make $11/hr + tips, which is more then my school teacher Stepmom makes....

CA has a minimum wage law set at $7.25/hr

our cost of living is several times what it is in WV too.

[Stark]

Over 21 (where the wages stop going up with age) most minimums are about AU$16-18, which is about US$12 I think. That's for a shit, unskilled, work-at-the-servo kinda job.

[The Third Man]

The impression I get from family members that have been to the US is that everything is pretty much cheaper over there, we've probably just been abused by inflation or goods are just more costly to get here. Probably the same in the mediterranean.

Yes. Even absent the current dollar/pound situation, the UK in general has higher wages, but higher costs. So it kind of misses the big picture just to compare minimum wages. You should really factor in stuff like the percentage of the wage that goes in tax (not just income - NICs, indirect taxes, local taxes, VAT/sales taxes), and the cost of basic commodities. Then there's the cost of housing - the UK suffers from extremely high house (and therefore rent) prices. Fuel, which has been touched on in this thread, is a bit of a special case, because of the duties it attracts for political/environmental reasons. We should look at stuff like how much the person on a minimum wage has left in their pocket after paying for their accomodation, and then at basic things like the cost of a pint of milk or a loaf of bread.

[Jalinth]

Yes. Even absent the current dollar/pound situation, the UK in general has higher wages, but higher costs.

The cost of living in the UK is ridiculous - especially in London. I've known a few people who've had very decent paying jobs (for a graduate) when looked at from the Canadian standpoint. In the $40K to $50K range. In the UK, they were struggling to survive - the cost of living was through the rough. So a decent paying job in Canada became marginal in the UK - purchasing power of your salary matters and not just the dollar figure.

Look at the US - $100K per year in New York vs $100K per year in WV. I think your affordable lifestyle would be a bit different in New York vs WV in terms of disposable income

[Keevan_Colton]

London is more expensive than anywhere else in the UK, it's a special case in terms of cost of living...and factoring in taxes means also factoring in lovely little things like the cost of medical insurance and meeting related costs in the US compared to the UK where your taxes mean it's all taken care of.

[Col. Crackpot]

Minimum wage in Rhode Island is 6.75, but the taxes are a lot higher than West (by god) Virginia, so it almost evens out. That way the government can claim one of the highest minimum wages in the country and then take the difference from you.

Minimum wage increases are shit anyway. All they do is reduce the purchasing power of the poor by increasing the costs. Besides, the overwhelming majority of people here on minimum wage are teenagers who have no skills. Hell, we even pay non-english speaking unskilled labor $2/hour above minimum wage in our factory.

[Stravo]

Minimum wage in NYC is about $6.50. This is one of the most expensive cities in the US and the world to live in. If you're just making minimum wage you're either living in a studio with three other people in some slum in the outer boroughs or you're living in mom and dad's basement. Either way you cannot live on minimum wage in the city.

The recent push to raise the minimum wage in he state legislature has gotten hit with the standard "OMG If we raise the Minumum wage we'll even lose more jobs to New Jersey."

[Col. Crackpot]

London is more expensive than anywhere else in the UK, it's a special case in terms of cost of living...and factoring in taxes means also factoring in lovely little things like the cost of medical insurance and meeting related costs in the US compared to the UK where your taxes mean it's all taken care of.

Anyone coming to the US with any sort of degree really doesn't have to worry about the cost of medical insurance. We only fuck the poor and also the stupid. Think of it as Darwinism run amok! Anyhooo I pay about $50/week for Blue Cross Family and that gets me and my wife a $200 yearly hospital deductable, a $7/$30/$50 (generic/brand name/brand name with acceptable generic) prescription plan and $15 Doctor visit co-pay. The company pics up the rest of the weekly tab. So from my perspective (an from the perspective of a majority of Americans) a national healthcare system would represent increased cost and reduced benefits.

[Darth Wong]

Anyone coming to the US with any sort of degree really doesn't have to worry about the cost of medical insurance. We only fuck the poor and also the stupid. Think of it as Darwinism run amok! Anyhooo I pay about $50/week for Blue Cross Family and that gets me and my wife a $200 yearly hospital deductable, a $7/$30/$50 (generic/brand name/brand name with acceptable generic) prescription plan and $15 Doctor visit co-pay. The company pics up the rest of the weekly tab.

What if you get laid off or the company goes under or you have to change jobs?

So from my perspective (an from the perspective of a majority of Americans) a national healthcare system would represent increased cost and reduced benefits.

And this conjecture is based on ... what, exactly? The fact that your grossly inefficient system consumes $300 to $400 billion in administrative overhead costs alone every year, or costs 14% of GDP as opposed to Canada's 10%?

In any case, Canadian minimum wage is similar to US minimum wage ($7.45 CDN/hr, or roughly equivalent to $6 US/hr), yet we have a smaller gap between rich and poor. There is obviously something else at work in the US which exaggerates the gap, and raising the minimum wage is probably not a good solution.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Geez, since 18, my summer job paid me $12.37 USD every hour and my last job I had around 16 or so paid just under that (forgetting the ample bonuses). And this was pretty much what everyone I knew got, some got even more, never less.