NZ has one of the highest minimum wages in the world
The Post reports:
New Zealand has the ninth-highest minimum wage in the world when the pay rates are adjusted for their purchasing power, according to an international study.
Yet people insist it is too low. The more useful measure is the ratio of the minimum wage to the median wage, and this is what the current data is:
- NZ 68.7%
- France 62.5%
- UK 61.1%
- Australia 53.9%
- Spain 53.4%
- Germany 50.6%
- Ireland 50.1%
- Canada 49.9%
- Greece 48.5%
- Netherlands 48.3%
- US 25%
To stop the minimum wage being an annual lotto draw, I would pass a law setting it at say 65% of the median wage. That would still be higher than all our peers, but means the focus will be on lifting wages through productivity, not through legislation.