The Australian Minimum Wage Rises
I had no idea how much the minimum wage was in Australia until I read this article in The Australian newspaper and couldn’t believe my eyes:
The ACTU chief said the $21.66-a-week increase would give low-income employees more purchasing power but applied only to about 20per cent of the workforce on minimum rates.
He said the full 4.15per cent increase – slightly above the running inflation rate – would only apply to about 100,000 out of the total 1.3million people who were paid the minimum wage because this group received the lowest rate of $522.12 a week, or $13.74 an hour. The rest, he said, were on higher rates. [The Australian]
Now I know why no one leaves any tips in Australia when the minimum wage is $13.74 an hour. I can remember when I was working at McDonald’s back in the US years ago and was being paid the minimum wage of $4.25 an hour. Currently the US minimum wage is $6.27 which is a bit higher, but no where near as high as Australia’s.
However, this may help to also explain, along with all the taxes why the cost of living in Australia is so much higher then in America.
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About The Author
Dobbs
I am a avid hiker with a love for travel and the outdoors. I currently call the Evergreen State of Washington my home.
Higher wages do not necessarily mean higher prices of goods, it just means that the bosses extract less surplus value from their workers. This is basic economics. In Australia some people may pay higher taxers and wages, however we also get medical care from the state rather than our employer.Look at all the million GM is paying for employees and ex-employees! Surly that is much more expensive than paying decent wages and taxes for universal healthcare. Although you might get lower taxes (this is debatable) for upper middle class people, and wages; US companies are running to near financial ruin… Read more »
Adam Smith wrote in Wealth of Nations:"Our merchants and master-manufacturers complain much of the bad effects of high wages in raising the price and thereby lessening the sale of their good … They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent? with regard to the pernicious effects of their own gains. They complain only of those of other people." "Servers, labourers, and workmen of different kinds make up the far greater part of every great political society. But what improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconveniency to the whole.… Read more »
Higher wages do not necessarily mean higher prices of goods, it just means that the bosses extract less surplus value from their workers. This is basic economics. In Australia some people may pay higher taxers and wages, however we also get medical care from the state rather than our employer. Look at all the million GM is paying for employees and ex-employees! Surly that is much more expensive than paying decent wages and taxes for universal healthcare. Although you might get lower taxes (this is debatable) for upper middle class people, and wages; US companies are running to near financial… Read more »
Adam Smith wrote in Wealth of Nations: “Our merchants and master-manufacturers complain much of the bad effects of high wages in raising the price and thereby lessening the sale of their good … They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent? with regard to the pernicious effects of their own gains. They complain only of those of other people.” “Servers, labourers, and workmen of different kinds make up the far greater part of every great political society. But what improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconveniency to the… Read more »