IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v25y2019i3p267-284.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What’s in a name? From minimum wages to living wages in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Thorsten Schulten

    (Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Düsseldorf, Germany)

  • Torsten Müller

    (European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Brussels, Belgium)

Abstract

The development of a European minimum wage policy is back on the political agenda. While in the past the debate about a European minimum wage policy was largely detached from developments at national level, more recently the debate has been based on various national-level initiatives to ensure a living wage that enables workers and their families to enjoy a decent standard of living. Based on an introduction to the living wage concept, this article analyses how recent living wage initiatives in several EU Member States and the development of a European minimum wage policy could mutually reinforce each other and eventually result in a European living wage policy. In view of the significant heterogeneity of minimum wage regimes and welfare state traditions across Europe, the article calls for a pragmatic approach that adopts a common European target of 60 per cent of the national median wage as the benchmark for an adequate minimum wage.

Suggested Citation

  • Thorsten Schulten & Torsten Müller, 2019. "What’s in a name? From minimum wages to living wages in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(3), pages 267-284, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:25:y:2019:i:3:p:267-284
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258919873989
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1024258919873989
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1024258919873989?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Anker & Martha Anker, 2017. "Living Wages Around the World," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 17350.
    2. Yellen, Janet L, 1984. "Efficiency Wage Models of Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 200-205, May.
    3. Thorsten Schulten & Toralf Pusch, 2019. "Mindestlohn von 12 Euro: Auswirkungen und Perspektiven [Consequences and Perspectives of a 12 Euro Minimum Wage in Germany]," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 99(5), pages 335-339, May.
    4. Brian Fabo & Sharon Sarah Belli, 2017. "Correction to: (Un)beliveable wages? An analysis of minimum wage policies in Europe from a living wage perspective," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-3, December.
    5. Betsy Jane Clary, 2009. "Smith and Living Wages: Arguments in Support of a Mandated Living Wage," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(5), pages 1063-1084, November.
    6. Sidney Webb, 1912. "The Economic Theory of a Legal Minimum Wage," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(10), pages 973-973.
    7. Mathew Johnson & Aristea Koukiadaki & Damian Grimshaw, 2019. "The Living Wage in the UK: testing the limits of soft regulation?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(3), pages 319-333, August.
    8. Donald Stabile, 2016. "The Political Economy of a Living Wage," Palgrave Studies in American Economic History, in: The Political Economy of a Living Wage, chapter 0, pages 1-48, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Brian Fabo & Sharon Sarah Belli, 2017. "(Un)beliveable wages? An analysis of minimum wage policies in Europe from a living wage perspective," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Reingard Zimmer, 2019. "Living wages in international and European law," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(3), pages 285-299, August.
    11. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2010. "Institutional Economics and the Minimum Wage: Broadening the Theoretical and Policy Debate," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(3), pages 427-453, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Felix Syrovatka, 2022. "Book Review: Minimum Wage Regimes. Statutory Regulation, Collective Bargaining and Adequate Levels," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 291-294, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2016. "Adam Smith’s Economics and the Modern Minimum Wage Debate:The Large Distance Separating Kirkcaldy from Chicago," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 29-52, March.
    2. José António Pereirinha & Elvira Pereira, 2021. "Living Wages in Portugal: in search of dignity in a highly polarized labour market," Working Papers GHES - Office of Economic and Social History 2021/74, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, GHES - Social and Economic History Research Unit, Universidade de Lisboa.
    3. Brian Fabo & Martin Guzi & Barbora Šofranková, 2022. "The living income for Slovak households," Working and Discussion Papers OP 1/2022, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.
    4. Vladimíra Žofčinová & Zuzana Horváthová & Andrea Čajková, 2018. "Selected Social Policy Instruments in Relation to Tax Policy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Brian Fabo & Sharon Sarah Belli, 2017. "(Un)beliveable wages? An analysis of minimum wage policies in Europe from a living wage perspective," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2009. "Promoting Labour Market Efficiency and Fairness through a Legal Minimum Wage: The Webbs and the Social Cost of Labour," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(2), pages 306-326, June.
    7. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2018. "How Capitalism Endogenously Creates Rising Income Inequality and Economic Crisis: The Macro Political Economy Model of Early Industrial Relations," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 131-173, January.
    8. Gautié, Jérôme, 2015. "D'un siècle à l'autre, salaire minimum, science économique et débat public aux États-Unis, en France et au Royaume-Uni (1890-2015)," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 1518, CEPREMAP.
    9. Yandi Yusnandar & B.S. Nazamuddin & Raja Masbar & Abd. Jamal, 2020. "Determinants of labor force participation and its impact on the standard of living of working age individuals in Indonesia, a gender perspective," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 989-1001.
    10. Marconi, G. & de Grip, A., 2014. "Education and growth with learning by doing," ROA Research Memorandum 010, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    11. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Jagadeesh Gokhale, 1992. "Estimating a Firm's Age-Productivity Profile Using the Present Value of Workers' Earnings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(4), pages 1215-1242.
    12. Azfar Khan & Faisal Buyinza, 2020. "Living Wage Benchmark Report: Rural Uganda, Lake Victoria Basin (September 2020)," Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC) 20-01-02, Universidad Privada Boliviana.
    13. Anne Perrot & André Zylberberg, 1989. "Salaire d'efficience et dualisme du marché du travail," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 40(1), pages 5-20.
    14. Haltiwanger, John & Waldman, Michael, 1991. "Responders versus Non-responders: A New Perspective on Heterogeneity," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(408), pages 1085-1102, September.
    15. Seltzer, Andrew, 2024. "The Political Economy of Minimum Wage Setting: The Factories and Shops Act of Victoria (Australia), 1896-1913," IZA Discussion Papers 16788, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Andrew Seltzer & Martin Shanahan & Claire Wright, 2022. "The Rise and Fall and Rise (?) of Economic History in Australia," CEH Discussion Papers 05, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    17. Pierre Brochu & Till Gross & Christopher Worswick, 2020. "Temporary foreign workers and firms: Theory and Canadian evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 871-915, August.
    18. Goldsmith, Arthur H. & Veum, Jonathan R. & Darity, William Jr., 2000. "Working hard for the money? Efficiency wages and worker effort," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 351-385, August.
    19. Shavell, Steven, 1997. "The optimal level of corporate liability given the limited ability of corporations to penalize their employees," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 203-213, June.
    20. Roy E. Bailey & Timothy J. Hatton & Kris Inwood, 2016. "Atmospheric Pollution and Child Health in Late Nineteenth Century Britain," CEH Discussion Papers 052, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:25:y:2019:i:3:p:267-284. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.