The minimum wage debate is on the rise recently. Human rights are becoming more important than ever, and the minimum wage is no exception. This concept refers to the minimum amount of money paid to a worker in a given country and through an officially established law, for a given working period, be it an hour, day, or month.

This regulation is present in almost every country around the world, and its main objective is to reduce wage inequality.

Origin of minimum wages

These laws were first established in New Zealand and Australia, so it is not surprising that they score quite high in many rankings that aim to determine the minimum wage in each country. For example, the minimum wage in Australia is set at $20.33 per hour, at least as of July 2021. On a monthly basis, this means an amount of $3,238, quite a significant value.

Country rankings

If we take a look at several different countries and their minimum monthly wages, we can find truly significant differences between Australia and other regions of the world.

For example, in Spain the minimum wage is around €1.1258, that is, an amount of $1271.08 per month. This means that the minimum wage in Australia is 2.5 times higher than in Spain, almost three times as much.

Another example relies in Germany, a country that claims to have good economic and social policies, where the minimum wage is around €1.585., which translates into $1790,81. Again, Australia offers a minimum wage almost twice as high as Germany.

To provide a much more extreme comparison, in Nigeria the minimum monthly wage is approximately €87.9. This small amount translates into a value of $99.31 per month. Almost inhuman, for that matter.

Differences between regions and countries

Of course, when making these comparisons, we must take into account other factors such as the standard of living, housing prices, and commodities in each country or region.

Australia is among the top countries when it comes to paying their employees a decent salary, although surpassed by regions such as Geneva (Switzerland), whose monthly salary is around $4180.44. It should be noted, however, that before Geneva was recently positioned at the top, Australia offered a better salary to employees.

We can conclude that in a matter as delicate and relevant as the minimum wage, which has an impact on the quality of life and well-being of its citizens, Australia is undoubtedly one of the world leaders.