Survey: Fewer Hungarians earn minimum wage

Fewer Hungarians are working for minimum wage, daily Magyar Idők said on Thursday.

About 303,000 labourers in Hungary earn the unskilled minimum wage, gross 138,000 forints (EUR 446) a month, Imre Palkovics, the head of the Labour Councils, told the paper, citing economy ministry data.

The data show a further 876,000 labourers earn the skilled minimum wage, which stands at gross 181,000 forints.

Melinda Mészaros, who heads unions association Liga, said the overall number of minimum wage earners had fallen under 1.2 million, even as employment numbers had grown. A few years earlier, the number was around 1.5 million, she added.

The number of employed in Hungary is 4,450,000, the latest Central Statistical Office data show.

Hungary’s government reached an agreement with employers and unions late in 2016 on minimum wage rises paired with payroll tax cuts over a period of several years. The higher minimum wage for both skilled and unskilled workers has lifted overall wage growth in the country.

Source: MTI