Publication
Title
An EU minimum wage target for adequate in-work incomes?
Author
Abstract
This article summarises the arguments in favour of an EU initiative on minimum wages and highlights the steps that have been taken so far, focusing, in particular, on the First Stage consultation document prepared by the European Commission. Based on this consultation document and previous proposals, this article assesses some of the issues related to promoting an EU target minimum wage as a percentage of a national reference wage. Focusing on the adequacy of minimum wages for workers and their families, this article highlights first, the impact rather technical issues relating to the definition of the reference wage may have, and second, the importance of considering the interaction of the minimum wage with the broader tax benefit system in ensuring adequate in-work incomes. Whereas an EU initiative on minimum wages certainly has merit, these two caveats illustrate the need for a clear definition of what one wants to achieve by this initiative, and indicate that specific goals will require additional accompanying measures, such as a further monitoring of the net incomes of minimum wage earners
Language
English
Source (journal)
European journal of social security. - The Hague, 1999, currens
Publication
The Hague : Kluwer Law International , 2020
ISSN
1388-2627 [print]
2399-2948 [online]
DOI
10.1177/1388262720968118
Volume/pages
22 :4 (2020) , p. 452-466
ISI
000598868400001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
A safety net that holds. Institutional determinants of adequate poverty relief.
Publication type
Subject
Law 
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
VABB-SHW
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 26.01.2021
Last edited 16.08.2024
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