Data from a new report published by the European Commission shows that 19.8 per cent of workers in Ireland were classed as low-paid in 2022 – the 7th highest rate among the 27 EU member states and above the EU average of 14.7 per cent, according to BreakingNews.IE.
The proportion of Irish workers considered low paid was also effectively unchanged since a similar earnings survey was conducted in 2018.
Low-paid workers are defined as those who earn two-thirds or less than the median gross hourly earnings in the country where they work.
Median gross hourly earnings in the Republic in October 2022 were €20.30 – the 4th highest in the EU at the time – making anyone earning €13.53 or less per hour before tax in Ireland considered a low-paid worker.
The figures are based on the gross hourly earnings of all workers in businesses with 10 or more employees in all sectors of the economy, excluding agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and public administration and defence. Earnings include overtime pay, shift premiums, allowances, bonuses and commissions.
The report also shows that there are more women than men among low-paid workers in the EU. In Ireland, 22.7 per cent of female workers were low-paid in 2022, compared to the EU average of 17.1 per cent.
The data also shows that 17.6 per cent of men in the Republic are low-paid workers – the 6th highest rate and above the EU average of 12.6 per cent.
According to the report, low-paid workers make up 25.2 per cent of all workers under the age of 30 in the EU – this is about twice as much as low-paid workers in older age groups.
The report also highlights that the lower a person’s level of education, the more likely they are to be a low-paid worker: 27.5 per cent of young school leavers are classified as low-paid, compared to 4.8 per cent of workers with a university degree. Median monthly earnings in Ireland at the time were €3,323.
Highest inequalities in the EU
The report also shows that Ireland had one of the highest inequalities in the EU for high-paid workers in 2022.
According to the report, the top 10 per cent of the highest paid workers in Ireland earned 2.2 times more than workers with an average hourly wage. Only the highest paid workers in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Portugal and Romania had a bigger pay gap with the average worker.
According to the latest data, the share of low-paid workers varied significantly across EU countries in 2022. Bulgaria had the highest share (26.8 per cent), followed by Romania (23.9 per cent), Latvia (23.3 per cent) and Greece (21.2 per cent).
In contrast, only 1.8 per cent of workers in Portugal are classified as low-paid, followed by Sweden (4.1 per cent), Finland (6.5 per cent) and Italy (8.8 per cent). Other countries with less than 10 per cent of workers in the low-wage category are Slovenia, France and Denmark.
