Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1382687
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JUNE 2021 NEWS Luxembourg United Kingdom Ireland Netherlands Belgium Germany France Slovenia Spain Malta Portugal Greece Lithuania Slovakia Poland Estonia Croatia Czechia Latvia Romania Hungary Bulgaria 0 400 800 1,200 1,600 2,000 2,400 €2,202 €1,642 €1,903 €1,010 €1,724 €1,462 €1,685 €1,382 €1,626 €1,387 €1,610 NaN €1,555 €1,321 €1,110 €589 €1,108 €728 €785 €630 €776 €525 €758 €681 €642 €232 €623 €296 €614 €281 €584 €278 €563 NaN €579 €306 €500 €254 €472 €153 €467 €270 €332 €123 in Euros (€) 2021 2009 Minimum wages in 22 EU countries (and UK), which have a statutory minimum wage 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Latvia Slovenia Poland Slovakia Bulgaria Lithuania Portugal Croatia Czechia Hungary Romania Luxembou… UK Netherlands Germany Malta Ireland France Belgium Spain Greece Estonia 8.9% 7.7% 7.4% 6.6% 5.8 4.7% 4.6% 4.1% 4% 3.1% 2.8% 2.2% 1.9% 1.6% 1.1% 1% 1% 0 0 0 0 Increase in minimum wage between 2020 and 2021 JAMES DEBONO MALTA is a part of a small group of six countries where rises in the statutory min- imum wage, have not kept up with the growth in aver- age wages between 2009 and 2021. The other countries in this group – Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland, and Lux- embourg – all have a much higher minimum wage than Malta's. A report by the European Foundation for the Improve- ment of Living Conditions shows that in countries with comparable minimum wages like Portugal and Slovenia, the growth in minimum wage was considerably higher than that for average wages. Overall statutory mini- mum wages have increased faster than average wages in more than two-thirds of EU countries, which means that in these countries the lowest-paid employees have experienced higher wage growth than the average em- ployee. Among these countries, Eastern European member states stand out for the ex- ceptional growth in their minimum wages: Romania, Bulgaria, the three Baltic countries, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Czechia. In other countries, where increases were smaller, min- imum wage growth was still considerably higher than that observed in average wages. This was particular- ly the case of Spain where minimum-wage earners benefitted from a substan- tial increase enacted by a governing left-wing coalition in 2019. Other countries in this group were Portugal, the UK and Slovenia. Greece is the only country where the minimum wage level fell, although average wages de- clined even further. How minimum wages compare Between 2020 and 2021 the minimum wage in Mal- ta increased by only 1.1%. Despite this low increase, at €785 Malta's minimum wage remains considerably high- er than in eastern European countries like Bulgaria, Ro- mania, Hungary and Latvia. But other eastern Euro- pean countries like Poland and Slovakia are catching up fast. Slovenia, which has seen a sharp increase in its minimum wage over the past decade, has surpassed Mal- ta's and now has a minimum wage of €1,100 a month. In 2009 Slovenia had a mini- mum wage of €589 a month, which was lower than Mal- ta's €630. Now its minimum wage is €315 higher than Malta's. Portugal, whose minimum wage in 2009 was €115 low- er than Malta's, is now level with Malta; while Spain's minimum wage is €323 higher than Malta's. Malta's minimum wage is now just €27 higher than in Greece, a debt-ridden country whose minimum wage was cut in 2012 and subsequently fro- zen until 2019. Luxembourg has the high- est minimum wage in Europe (€2,202) followed by the UK (€1,903), Ireland (€1,724) and Belgium (€1,626). Of the 22 EU countries which have a statutory min- imum wage Malta has the tenth highest. All across Europe, min- imum wage rises for 2021 were more modest than for 2020. The median minimum wage increase in 2021 was 3% (in national currencies), compared to 8.4% in the pre- vious year. This suggests that the pan- demic has slowed down the ongoing process of strong minimum wage growth and minimum wage convergence across EU countries. Curiously, despite its rel- atively low wages, Maltese wages were more likely to follow the pattern of older richer member states than those in Eastern Europe. During the past decade, growth in minimum wages has been modest among the older member states that have the highest minimum wages: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxem- bourg and the Netherlands. On the other hand, there has been remarkable progress among countries that have the lowest rates, which have at least doubled those rates over the period. Minimum wages in Malta increasing at a lower rate than average wages in contrast to rest of EU where minimum wages climbing faster than average wages Minimum wage out of step with average wages in Malta