What is the minimum wage around the world?
By Libby Kane
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
an international policy group that monitors and analyzes 34 countries,
recently tweeted the following chart:
OECD
It illustrates the after-tax value of the hourly minimum wage, in US dollars, in the OECD countries that have instituted one.
Australia and Luxembourg lead the group with wages over $9 an hour each, and Latvia and Mexico are at the bottom with wages under $2.
The US, where the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, or $6.26 after taxes, ranks 11th.
Broken down by state, however, there is some variation among the 45 states that require a minimum wage, ranging from $9.05 per hour in Washington, DC, to $5.15 an hour in Georgia and Wyoming. The Guardian reported that 21 states raised the minimum wage in 2015, and multiple states have begun the process of raising their minimum wages to $10.10 an hour.
Business Insider’s Myles Udland reported that the US government currently spends $152.8 billion a year supporting working families who are paid so little that they’re still in need of assistance.
This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.
To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Author: Libby Kane is the personal finance editor at Business Insider.
Image: A customer withdraws 500 Estonian kroon ($40) from an ATM in Tallinn July 13, 2010. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins.
OECD
It illustrates the after-tax value of the hourly minimum wage, in US dollars, in the OECD countries that have instituted one.
Australia and Luxembourg lead the group with wages over $9 an hour each, and Latvia and Mexico are at the bottom with wages under $2.
The US, where the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, or $6.26 after taxes, ranks 11th.
Broken down by state, however, there is some variation among the 45 states that require a minimum wage, ranging from $9.05 per hour in Washington, DC, to $5.15 an hour in Georgia and Wyoming. The Guardian reported that 21 states raised the minimum wage in 2015, and multiple states have begun the process of raising their minimum wages to $10.10 an hour.
Business Insider’s Myles Udland reported that the US government currently spends $152.8 billion a year supporting working families who are paid so little that they’re still in need of assistance.
This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.
To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Author: Libby Kane is the personal finance editor at Business Insider.
Image: A customer withdraws 500 Estonian kroon ($40) from an ATM in Tallinn July 13, 2010. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins.
