WSI-Mindestlohnbericht 2020: Europäische Mindestlohninitiative vor dem Durchbruch ?

In early 2020, the European Commission formally launched consultations on a European minimum wage policy. Against this background, the WSI Minimum Wage Report analyses the current state of minimum wages in countries of the European Union, neighbouring European countries, as well as selected non-European industrial and emerging economies. It also summarises the most important initiatives for structural minimum wage increases. In many countries these are already reflected in much stronger increases, with the result that minimum wages as of 1 January 2020 have risen by a median of 6.0 % in nominal terms (4.4 % in real terms) compared with the same date in the previous year. Nevertheless, only two EU countries (France and Portugal) currently reach the target of 60 % of the median wage, below which it must be assumed that the wage level puts recipients at high poverty risk. Germany is one of the countries where the minimum wage is de facto a poverty wage. The continuous reporting on minimum wages by the WSI since 2009 is based on the WSI Minimum Wage Database, which documents time series on the development of minimum wages, prices and exchange rates for 37 countries