Minimum Wages in Central and Eastern Europe

From Protection to Destitution

• Author(s): Guy Standing, Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead,
• Publisher: Central European University Press
• Pages: 186
• ISBN_10: 9633864879
  ISBN_13: 9789633864876
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Political Science / Labor & Industrial Relations , Business & Economics / Labor / General , History / Europe / Eastern , Social Science / Human Services , Political Science / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare ,

Description:... Since the late 1980s, incomes have fallen sharply in most countries of Central and Eastern Europe, while unemployment and poverty rates have risen dramatically. In most countries during that period, the statutory minimum wage has been supposed to be an anchor of the social protection system and the wage structure, protecting the low-paid and those dependent on state benefits. Unfortunately for those affected, the level of the minimum wage has been allowed to drop to well below the "poverty level" and has ceased to protect anyone. This book considers the evidence and the implications of this development, and recommends a series of reforms.