BERLIN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Most employees in Germany consider remuneration levels in low wage professions to be unfair to workers, a study published on Wednesday by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) finds.

According to the study, 96 percent of employees polled indicated that a monthly gross salary of 1,200 euros for full-time positions in professions such as hairdressing or package delivery did not offer sufficient financial compensation for the work in question. 81 percent said that even mid-level monthly wages of up to 2,700 euros on average were still too low.

The Berlin-based institute described the findings as a sign that the German government should do more to improve wages in the lowest income brackets after having recently already raised the national minimum wage.

Study author Jule Adriaans noted that people who felt that they were not being paid enough were more likely to underperform at work, as well as to lose interest in politics.

High wages of up to 6,100 euros per month were not generally considered as unfair by 50 percent of respondents. Employees were broadly accepting of wage differentials as a matter of principle as long as they felt they were justified.

"It is broadly accepted that whoever works more should ultimately also earn more," Adriaans said. "If everybody received they salary they consider to be fair we would still have wage income inequality at a similar level to the actual status quo."

A long-term study by the socio-economic panel (SOEP) of DIW suggests that income inequality is on the rise in Germany. While real wages went up by 15 percent on average between 1991 and 2015, the lowest income brackets had barely benefited from this development. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)