Minimum wages in 2019 - Annual review

In most EU Member States, reviews of the statutory minimum wage rates spark a great deal of public interest. Such reviews affect the wider workforce, beyond those workers on the statutory minimum wage. Pay rates in collective agreements may be adapted in response to an increase in the minimum wage, affecting lower-paid workers more generally; social benefits may also be affected, making the impact of such revisions even more widespread. This report covers developments in statutory minimum wages in 2018–2019 in the EU and Norway. It looks at the level of minimum wages, how they were set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. It also covers major debates in relation to setting minimum wage levels. While the report focuses on the net remuneration of those receiving the minimum wage, it also documents minimum rates from selected collective agreements in countries without statutory minimum wages as well as minimum wage coverage rates of workers by gender.