The Minimum Wage Institute and the problems of wage labor poverty

Abstract

The minimum wage can help reduce wage inequality, provided that employees and employers meet each other's demands in the workplace. The authors, based on an in-depth theoretical and methodological justification, emphasize that in most industries wages and conditions are determined through free collective bargaining between employers and trade unions. At the same time, it is argued that low investment in labor relations and union membership rates encourage democratic governments to establish stricter minimum wage policies. It is noted that the low level of the minimum wage creates incentives for social dialogue, in the presence of a "good" balance characterized by strong parameters of cooperation, leading to a high density of trade unions and low state regulation. The authors emphasize that recently there has been a paradigm shift towards the "health-illness" process, especially for workers with minimum wages. At the same time, the absence of strong trade unions does not provide an acceptable psychosocial and organizational working environment, which causes significant harm to the health of staff, especially for the proportion of people receiving minimum wages. At the same time, industrial development and an effective income distribution system based on a reasonable minimum wage rate will ensure the reproduction of human capital, increase labor productivity and will be an effective policy tool for increasing income and consumption of households dependent on the minimum wage.