2024-04-17 18:25:23
Among the 66 thousand workers who earn only the minimum social wage (SSM) in the Grand Duchy, the Portuguese have the highest SSM rate among all nationalities.
More than 20% of Portuguese people (21.6%) earn the global SSM, and of these, 14.4% earn the unskilled SSM (SSM NQ), reveals a report from the Luxembourg Chamber of Employees (CSL, French acronym) entitled “Minimum wage broken down by worker’s nationality”.
CSL compared qualified SSM (SSM Q) and SSM NQ among the most represented nationalities in the country (Luxembourgish, Portuguese, French, German, Belgian, among others), among resident and cross-border workers, and by gender.
“The SSM and SSM NQ rate is the highest among Portuguese workers” states the CSL report. Next is the “other nationalities” group and then the French.
German resident workers (8.9%) and Belgians (11.7%) are those who earn the least SSM, being “underrepresented” in this study. Next come the Luxembourgers (13.0%), the French (14.3%), other nationalities (19.9%) and then, lastly, the Portuguese (21.6%).
Most Portuguese people are unskilled workers and therefore receive a lower SSM value. Of the 21.6% who receive the global SSM, only 7.4% earn the qualified SSM.
Remember that currently the gross SSM NQ is 2,570.93 euros and the gross SSM Q is 3,085.11 euros.
SSM rate among women is 46% higher than that of men
Among the Portuguese, women are the most affected by low wages. “The global SSM rate is 46% for women,” says the CSL report. The report even highlights the case of Portuguese workers to illustrate this great inequality in the SSM NQ.: “18.9% of women earn wages at the SSM NQ level, while ‘only’ 10.6% of men are at this level. It is a difference of more than 8 percentage points”, the largest in this study.
Luxembourg. Portuguese are the happiest at work, despite earning less
Among Luxembourg workers there is no gender difference for the SSM, in the case of the SSM NQ, men are the most represented, while there are more women receiving the SSM Q. Among Germans, the rate is significantly higher for women compared to to SSM NQ. Among French and Belgian women, the rate is, as in the case of Portuguese women, much higher.
Portuguese are the lowest paid
The conclusions of this CSL study on the situation of Portuguese workers coincide with those of the report (Rapport PIBien-Être 2023) by the Luxembourg Statistics Institute (Statec), presented at the end of March 2023 and which Contacto published.
This study revealed that the Portuguese are the workers who earn the lowest wages in Luxembourg, and those who have a lower standard of living among all the nationalities most represented in the country. They are also, by far, those who consider themselves to be the lowest paid in relation to their work.
Minimum wage must “increase”
In turn, the LCGB and OGBL trade unions demand an increase in SSM in the country, arguing that in the case of SSM NQ the amounts currently paid “are low” and do not “protect against poverty”.
Minimum wage must increase. It is low and “does not protect against poverty”
In fact, the value of the SSM is lower than the amount established for the poverty threshold in Luxembourg. The OGBL advocates an increase of at least 10%, and the LCGB the exemption of all taxes, instead of an increase in the gross SSM.
2024-04-17 18:25:23