Ensuring quality of work and employment for all those who are able to work has always been a cornerstone of EAPN’s action in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. Get to know more about what quality work and quality employment are and what our members are doing!
The question of adequacy of wages is a crucial one. Statutory minimum wage rates (which, according to Eurostat, exist in 22 out of 28 Member States) do not often come with a guarantee of providing income adequacy for all workers.
The term “living wage” emerged from the recognition of the need to focus on the provision of decent wages through paid work, which surpasses the rather low limits often set for a minimum wage rate, in order to provide a worker with an acceptable standard of living.
This is also key to ensure a positive hierarchy between adequate minimum income and decent wages. This work complements EAPN’s support for statutory minimum wages at an adequate level, and makes more explicit the commitment to decent wages overall.
The coordinated EAPN awareness raising action on decent/living wages aims at:
- Strengthening the consensus and the knowledge of issues of low pay and decent wages among EAPN members
- Raising the visibility of the importance of decent wages in all Member States and at the European level
- Strengthening partnerships and alliances between EAPN members and other significant actors in the field, such as trade unions, academics, other NGOs, etc
- Effecting real change in both employer behaviour, as well as national and local governments responsible for wage-setting mechanisms, in favour of decent / living ages for all workers
To know more about our actions, you can:
Read the Living Wage Background Note
Read the Campaign Guide prepared by EAPN’s Task Force on Decent Work
Read the 2-pager on Living Wage – A cornerstone for decent lives
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