Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive portrait of who earns the minimum wage, in terms of the characteristics of the individual that are most important in determining this outcome. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses individual data from the Annual...

The deteriorating labour market position of low‐skilled workers challenges economic efficiency and social equity. Four aspects are examined: joblessness among the low‐skilled; the prevalence of low pay among women; persistence in low pay; and the overlap between low pay and household poverty....

Uses Bank of Italy’s Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) panel data for 1993 and 1995 to model transition probabilities at the bottom of the Italian wage distribution and to investigate the features and determinants of low‐wage mobility. The analysis is based on a bivariate probit...

Despite improved employment performance across the OECD in the late 1990s, unemployment remains a key issue for analysis and debate among policy makers. This paper outlines the experience and developing policy of “New Labour” in the UK, the philosophy of the “Third Way” associated with...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive portrait of who earns the minimum wage, in terms of the characteristics of the individual that are most important in determining this outcome. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses individual data from the Annual...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and the human‐capital determinants of low‐wage mobility for labour market entrants in the UK and Germany. Design/methodology/approach – Using panel data for the UK (BHPS) and Germany (GSOEP), a competing‐risks duration...

The TUC is opposed to the decision by the British Government to abolish wages councils, which if successful will worsen the pay and conditions of the 2.6 million workers covered by them, and many other low paid workers who use the rates set as reference points. Drawing on theoretical literature...

Looks at the role of the minimum in wage setting and how it differs among countries and over time. Discusses the differing attributes of minimum wages and their pluses and minuses.

Briefly identifies the different Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour Organization pertaining to national wage policy matters. Introduces some of the issues which need study when considering the social and economic effects of minimum wages, outlining the different roles...

Minimum wage fixing came to be increasingly questioned during the 1980s owing to high unemployment and the rise of liberal economic thinking. This led many countries to dilute minimum wage protection by freezing the rates or altering the coverage. However, close examination of the relevant...