{"id":26536,"date":"2022-06-14T12:20:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T16:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26536"},"modified":"2022-06-15T10:23:52","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T14:23:52","slug":"living-wage-in-ireland-set-to-rise-to-almost-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26536","title":{"rendered":"Living Wage In Ireland Set To Rise To Almost $13"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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T\u00e1naiste Leo Varadkar said the living wage will be set at 60 per cent of the median wage in any given year (PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Government has unveiled plans to introduce a living wage which will replace the current minimum wage and see higher wages among the lowest paid workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T\u00e1naiste Leo Varadkar said the living wage will be set at 60 per cent of the median wage in any given year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 2022, this would bring the national minimum wage of\u00a0$10.95 (\u20ac10.50) per hour up to\u00a0$12.69 (\u20ac12.17) per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be phased in from next year and continue until 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Varadkar said the Government has given the Low Pay Commission the flexibility to introduce the full living wage in less than four years \u201cif economic circumstances allow it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Varadkar also said that workers who \u201cget up in the morning or work late at night\u201d and work up to 40 hours work a week, should earn enough to live on and have a \u201cdecent standard of living\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The T\u00e1naiste said he will bring his plan to various groups, employers, unions and the public for consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A living wage aims to provide workers with an income that allows them to have an acceptable standard of living through setting a minimum hourly wage rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked whether he believes \u20ac12.17 per hour \u2013 which equates to an annual salary of \u20ac22,782 \u2013 is enough to live on given the rise in inflation, Mr Varadkar said: \u201cI think you have to bear in mind that everyone\u2019s circumstances are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the moment, we have one of the highest minimum wages in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, if you adjust that for the cost of living in Ireland, it comes in around six or seven but still quite high relative to other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will be a significant improvement on that, bringing it up to a level that\u2019s substantially higher than it is now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to bear in mind that people who currently earn the minimum wage, many are students who for example live at home, don\u2019t necessarily have to pay rent, don\u2019t necessarily have to pay utility bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVery often people who currently earn the minimum wage are not the main earners in the house. It\u2019s the second or third income in the household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we don\u2019t want to do is to price them out of the labor market. So you always have to bear that in mind. The most important workers right is the right to work and if we went too high, or too fast, you could see people losing their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could see businesses closing, you could see people having their errors cost and that will be totally perverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo these are the kinds of things we have to take into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the Low Pay Commission has done that in the recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a proposal made by the Low Pay Commission unanimously \u2013 employers, union reps, independent experts, backed up by research from Maynooth University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re now going to consult with the public, with unions, with employers and within government on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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