According to the International Labour Organisation’s Global Wage Report 2020/21 published on 2 December 2020, monthly wages have fallen significantly during the second half of 2020 and the pace of wage increases recorded has been much slower than in the previous two years.

The ILO’s global report shows that some groups of people are feeling the effects of the crisis much more strongly than others. The economic and social effects of the pandemic have proved to be more severe for women than for men. Research carried out in a sample of 28 European countries shows that if it were not for subsidies for workers’ wages, women would lose 8.1% of their earnings in the second quarter of 2020 and men would lose 5.4%.

Low-paid workers have also been hit more hard by the crisis. Lower-skilled workers have lost more working hours than highly qualified workers or managers. In addition, research indicates that if it were not for subsidies for workers’ wages, low-paid workers would lose about 17.3% of their earnings (while the average decrease in the wages of all workers was estimated at 6.5%).

According to the data presented in the report, although 90% of ILO Member States guarantee workers the minimum wage, before the pandemic, 266 million people worldwide (i.e. 15% of all workers) were paid below the minimum wage – either because they did not comply with the relevant regulations or because they were excluded from such schemes.

The report was made available on the ILO’s website at: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_762547/lang–en/index.htm

Source: http://www.dialog.gov.pl/aktualnosci/art,1188,raport-mop-nt-wynagrodzen-na-swiecie-w-2020-r-.html