An unlivable minimum wage is just state-sanctioned poverty.
PBP propose minimum wage of €15 an hour to provide a ‘lasting dividend to frontline workers’
The rumoured increase of the Minimum wage to €10.50 in tomorrow’s budget has been criticised as “totally inadequate” and amount to “a continuation of state-sanctioned poverty”by Limerick People Before Profit spokesperson Ruairí Fahy.
Ireland has the second highest levels of low wage workers in the OECD. In Ireland 23% of workers are classified as low wage workers, meaning they earn less than 2 thirds of the median wage, or in other words, less than €12 an hour.
Last month the 2021 report by the "Living Wage Technical Group" was released stating that the wage needed for somebody to reach the minimum essential standard of living has increased by 60c to at least €12.90 an hour. Táiniste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, has recently stated that it is "counterproductive" to raise the minimum wage to a living wage right now, and it is now rumoured that tomorrow’s budget will see a rise in the minimum wage of just 30c to €10.50 an hour.
However People Before Profit have proposed a €15 minimum wage in their alternative budget. Former Councillor and People Before Profit Limerick spokesperson Ruairí Fahy said:
"Keeping wages down leaves people struggling just to get by. It effectively sees the state subsidise wages for bosses via supports like rent assistance and fuel allowance. Essentially, an unlivable minimum wage is just state-sanctioned poverty.
"With energy prices up nearly 20% this year, rents up nearly 10% and food prices also on the rise there is just no break for working people with more and more falling below the poverty line. It doesn't seem like this is a short term issue either with many economists expecting this higher level of inflation to last at least until 2023.
"The PBP alternative budget would set a €15 minimum wage to ensure our workers in Ireland are not just surviving but can actually thrive.
"Letting people thrive is needed to allow society as a whole to thrive too. It will reduce the mental and physical health costs that poverty brings and it will make sure that people have enough money in their pockets to spend in their communities without worrying about squeezing every penny."
