Most teenage workers in Ireland paid above minimum wage, new report finds

'Just over half (55%) of sub-minimum youth rate employees are women and 77% work in either the accommodation, food or retail sectors,' report said. 

Most teenagers in work who are eligible to be paid below the normal minimum wage are in reality paid more, new research suggests.

A new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said about 15,000 people in Ireland are paid below the minimum wage, which equates to about one in every 140 employees.

Dr Paul Redmond said: “Our research shows that very few employees are on a sub-minimum youth rate. Most young people who could legally be paid a sub-minimum youth rate are actually on higher pay.

"Of those that are on sub-minimum youth rates, the majority work in either accommodation, food or retail and most are students.” 

While the minimum wage in Ireland is €11.30 per hour, current legislation allows for younger people to be paid a lower rate. Workers aged under 18 years can be paid 70% of the full minimum wage, those aged 18 can be paid 80% of the rate, and people aged 19 can be paid 90% of the rate.

There have been calls on the Government to scrap this disparity in the wages younger people can be legally paid.

Trade union Mandate said earlier this year it was “simply not acceptable” for a 17-year-old person in retail to be paid 30% less than a 20-year old simply because of their age. 

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People Before Profit also introduced a bill last year aimed at ensuring younger workers are paid the same.

The Low Pay Commission funded the ESRI study, which found just under one quarter of workers aged 15-19 are paid the lower rate.

“Just over half (55%) of sub-minimum youth rate employees are women and 77% work in either the accommodation, food or retail sectors,” it said. 

Approximately 80% of sub-minimum youth-rate employees classify themselves as students.” 

The ESRI said Irish legislation also exempts apprentices, people employed by a close relative and prisoners involved in non-commercial work from being paid the minimum wage. 

There was no data on prisoners, but about 6,500 apprentices reporting earning less than minimum wage, and a further 1,500 employed by family reported the same.

Low Pay Commission chair Ultan Courtney said this independent body had been asked to make recommendations to Government on this topic and the ESRI findings would help them reach their conclusions.

"This research will be of great importance to us in our consideration of this important issue and will inform our recommendations," he said.