Low wage sector in Rhineland-Palatinate: decline in employees and minimum wages!

Low wage sector in Rhineland-Palatinate: decline in employees and minimum wages!

The low-wage sector in Rhineland-Palatinate has shrunk slightly, but the income scissors remain. By the end of April 2024, around 301,000 people worked in this sector, which corresponds to a decline of 11,000 employees or 0.8 percent compared to the previous year, as ww-Kurier . The proportion of employees who earn less than 13.79 euros per hour is now 17.2 percent, which is a decline compared to the previous year (18 percent). Rhineland-Palatinate remains above the nationwide average of 15.9 percent.

The low -wage threshold has now adapted to the current value of 13.04 euros in the previous year. According to the information from Localo , the low-wage sector is employed less than two thirds of the middle gross hours.

decline in minimum wage employees

A particularly worrying aspect is the decline in people who receive the statutory minimum wage. Only around 64,000 employees earned this wage in April 2024, which corresponds to a decline of 51,000 people compared to the previous year. At the beginning of the year, the minimum wage rose from 12.41 euros to 12.82 euros, but the number of minimum wage employees represents a significant decline. These developments raise questions about the preservation of fair working conditions.

The decline in low earners is also considerable. The maximum merits for low earners are 12.78 euros per hour, which corresponds to an increase of 5.8 percent compared to the previous year. In contrast, the wages of the better earned (top tenth) increased by 5.1 percent in the same period.

income ease remains

Despite the positive development of the low earners, the difference between these and the better earning remains alarming. An average earnings earn 2.8 times as much as low earners. In April 2024, the minimum difference between these two groups was at least 35.96 euros per hour. In this way, income relief remains high and will probably be the focus of the political and social discussion in the coming years.