From living wage to living hours – the Nordic version of the working poor

Ilsøe, Anna

doi:10.1080/10301763.2016.1152534

Cited by 17 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Considering the broad trend towards part-time work, however, this could lead to a situation in which hourly wages might be well above the living wage standards, while on a monthly basis they fall under the subsistence level and become poverty wages. In this case the problem is not so much the living wage as such but ensuring sufficient 'living working hours' (Ilsøe, 2016).…”

Section: The Calculation Of Living Wagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s in a name? From minimum wages to living wages in Europe

Schulten¹,

Müller

2019

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

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The development of a European minimum wage policy is back on the political agenda. While in the past the debate about a European minimum wage policy was largely detached from developments at national level, more recently the debate has been based on various national-level initiatives to ensure a living wage that enables workers and their families to enjoy a decent standard of living. Based on an introduction to the living wage concept, this article analyses how recent living wage initiatives in several EU Member States and the development of a European minimum wage policy could mutually reinforce each other and eventually result in a European living wage policy. In view of the significant heterogeneity of minimum wage regimes and welfare state traditions across Europe, the article calls for a pragmatic approach that adopts a common European target of 60 per cent of the national median wage as the benchmark for an adequate minimum wage.

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Section: The Calculation Of Living Wagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s in a name? From minimum wages to living wages in Europe

Schulten¹,

Müller

2019

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

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“…To encounter these shortcomings within the literature, we seek in this paper to build on the concept of living hours by Ilsøe (2016). The concept of living hours draws on the ideas by King and Rueda (2008) who argue that there exist two types of low-wage work; standard (open-ended full-time employment) and non-standard (part-time, temporary employment).…”

Section: Securing a Living Wage In Private Services – A Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on monthly administrative register data on all Danish employees from the period 2008-2014, this paper offers new insights into the effects of working time, including working time regulations, on annual earnings in low-wage private services such as industrial cleaning, retail, hotels and restaurants. We built on the concept of living hours (Ilsøe, 2016) since it considers not only the hourly wage, but also the number of weekly working hours as important when evaluating employees’ ability to uphold living wage. However, similar to other living wage research, the national working time regulations tend to be overlooked by Ilsøe (2016), although it seems just as pivotal as national wage-setting systems regarding employees’ ability to secure living wages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We built on the concept of living hours (Ilsøe, 2016) since it considers not only the hourly wage, but also the number of weekly working hours as important when evaluating employees’ ability to uphold living wage. However, similar to other living wage research, the national working time regulations tend to be overlooked by Ilsøe (2016), although it seems just as pivotal as national wage-setting systems regarding employees’ ability to secure living wages. Most national working time regulations, besides setting a strict threshold for the maximum length of the working week, also encounter various regulations on work scheduling and distribution of working time, but rarely include a minimum threshold for working hours (Berg et al , 2004; Seifert, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Living hours under pressure: flexibility loopholes in the Danish IR-model

Ilsøe

Larsen

Felbo-Kolding

2017

Self Cite

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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of part-time work on absolute wages. The empirical focus is wages and working hours in three selected sectors within private services in the Danish labour marketindustrial cleaning, retail, hotels and restaurantsand their agreement-based regulation of working time and wages. Theoretically, this analysis is inspired by the concept of living hours, which addresses the interaction between working hours and living wages, but adds a new layer to the concept in that the authors also consider the importance of working time regulations for securing a living wage. Design/methodology/approach-The paper builds on desk research of collective agreements and analysis of monthly administrative register data on wages and working hours of Danish employees from the period 2008-2014. Findings-This analysis shows that the de facto hourly wages have increased since the global financial crisis in all three sectors. This is in accordance with increasing minimum wage levels in the sector-level agreements. The majority of workers in all three sectors work part-time. Marginal part-timers-15 hours or less per weekmake up the largest group of workers. The de facto hourly wage for part-timers, including marginal part-timers, is relatively close to the sector average. However, the yearly job-related income is much lower for part-time than for full-time workers and much lower than the poverty threshold. Whereas the collective agreement in industrial cleaning includes a minimum floor of 15 weekly working hoursthis is not the case in retail, hotels and restaurants. This creates a loophole in the latter two sectors that can be exploited by employers to gain wage flexibility through part-time work. Originality/value-The living wage literature usually focusses on hourly wages (including minimum wages via collective agreements or legislation). This analysis demonstrates that studies of low-wage work must include the number of working hours and working time regulations, as this aspect can have a dramatic influence on absolute wageseven in cases of hourly wages at relatively high levels. Part-time work and especially marginal part-time work can be associated with very low yearly income levelseven in cases like Denmarkif regulations do not include minimum working time floors. The authors suggest that future studies include the perspective of living hours to draw attention to the effect of low number of weekly hours on absolute income levels.

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“…Others have extended diverging reasons for the incidence of working poor. For example, skill mismatch in the labour market [7,8,], arguments that the working poor are poor because they work part-time jobs [9], and societal and economic factors beyond their control [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nigeria’s Working Poor Households: Characterizing Factors and Proposals for Social Welfare Programs

Chukwuemeka¹

2021

AJESS

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The paper focuses on the increasing incidence of working poor families in Nigeria. Data from the ILO and NBS suggest that, not only is the number of working poor families in Nigeria increasing, despite governments efforts at increasing the number of jobs created. This point to the assertion that, removing working poor families out of poverty will not solely depend on their being employed. The paper uses data from Nigeria’s General Household Survey to characterize inducing factors of working poor families in Nigeria. The findings suggest that female – headed households, polygamous and divorced households, individuals who have never been married, size of employment establishment, and household expenditures, are determining factors of working poor families in Nigeria. We recommend the supplementing of working poor families incomes through Living wage and contributory savings, establishment of State Health Insurance Schemes, and affordable housing through a state guaranteed Mortgage Schemes.

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From living wage to living hours – the Nordic version of the working poor

Cited by 17 publications

References 12 publications

What’s in a name? From minimum wages to living wages in Europe

What’s in a name? From minimum wages to living wages in Europe

Living hours under pressure: flexibility loopholes in the Danish IR-model

Nigeria’s Working Poor Households: Characterizing Factors and Proposals for Social Welfare Programs

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