Real minimum wages will 'barely grow' this year, report suggests

Eurofound reported a reduction of up to 2% in purchasing power among minimum wage earners in over a third of EU countries, including Ireland

Eurofound says that significant losses in the purchasing capacity of minimum wage earners will become a dominant theme this year unless support measures are introduced.

Minimum wage workers in 15 EU countries, including Ireland, reported a decline in their real term wages in 2021, according to a new Eurofound report.

The EU agency’s ‘Minimum Wages in 2022: Annual Review’ studied the impacts of inflation on low-wage earners and was published shortly after the European Parliament and the EU Council agreed that member states would update statutory minimum wages at least every two years.