New minimum wage report with my @ESRIDublin colleagues @seamusmcguinnes @K_Maragkou and B.Maitre. We compare minimum wage employment in Ireland with other European countries. Some of the main findings....

21 EU countries, along with the UK have a statutory MW. At a glance, the MW in Ireland is high - 2nd highest after Luxembourg. But taking cost of living into account, the MW in Ireland is just the seventh highest, as per graph...

MW workers tend to be younger, have lower education and more likely to be non-nationals. In some countries, women are significantly over-represented among MW workers (e.g. 70% of MW worker in Netherlands are women). In Ireland, the gender split is more evenly balanced...

Ireland stands out as having the highest concentration of MW workers in accommodation, food, wholesale and retail. Almost half of MW workers in Ireland are in these sectors. These are also sectors that have been hit hardest with job losses due to the pandemic...

MW policy will, to some extent, target low income households. However, most (almost 90%) MW workers in Ireland are in households that are not at risk of poverty. While the role for poverty may be limited, MW protects lowest paid workers by providing a legally binding wage floor..

We look at job satisfaction. MW workers in all countries report lower satisfaction. In Ireland, 80% of MW workers are satisfied in their job, compared to 90% of higher paid workers. Full report can be accessed here https://bit.ly/2Oub9wi