Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
A freeze in the minimum wage would make it easier for stressed employers to hang onto their workers says a bare majority of experts surveyed by the Economic Society and The Conversation.
Informal retailers that dot South Africa’s townships have changed dramatically, but at great cost - avoidance of regulation and exploitation of employees.
The legal minimum wage is vital for regulating low pay and preventing exploitation. But it is insufficient on its own to reduce poverty for working people.
Granting low-wage workers a “living wage” instead of a minimum wage is far from costless, and there are much better ways of helping people genuinely in need.
The rise of superstar companies that dominate their industries may be partly to blame for the lack of wage growth in the US in recent years. It could also suggest a solution.
The budget bill just signed into law by the president will both make it harder for restaurants to take worker tips while reducing a form of inequality rife in the industry.
Experience in Fiji shows that reducing working poverty requires not only a raise in the minimum wage, but a minimum set of government services and benefits.