Minimum wage for degree holders to be introduced in Hungary?

Opposition LMP on Sunday called on the government to introduce a minimum wage for people with a higher education degree, saying it would be 30 percent higher than the minimum wage for skilled workers.

A minimum wage for degree holders is necessary because “public service wages have been losing their value for years now”, Krisztina Hohn, the party’s public welfare and family affairs spokesperson, told a press conference. Civil servants and public employees have not received wage hikes in over ten years, she added.

Hohn said this was a “huge mistake” on the government’s part, arguing that the public sector was facing a severe labour shortage. “A minimum wage for degree holders would remedy the problem,” she said, adding that it would also make teachers, social workers and local council employees feel respected.

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LMP also insists that public employee wages should be reviewed on a yearly basis and increased according to inflation, Hohn said. This, she said, would cost the budget between 250 billion and 300 billion forints (EUR 629m-755m) this year, adding that the costs would be covered by a new corporate tax rate imposed on companies making excessive profits.

Hohn said many people were having to work second and third jobs just to make ends meet, but they were now prevented from doing so because of the changes made to the itemised tax for small businesses (kata).

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Source: MTI