COMPARISON OF 31 COUNTRIES
Minimum wage proposal in line with similar economies
The proposal to introduce a minimum wage in SA has been hotly debated, with unions arguing that the R20 hourly rate is too low and some businesses saying it is too high and will destroy jobs. But an international comparison by Business Day shows the proposed minimum wage announced in November by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa places SA in the same range as many other emerging economies, if their wages are compared in terms of purchasing power. The local proposal would give South Africans a similar spending power to people living in Chile and Estonia, according to a comparison with 31 other developing countries. The R20 hourly wage would give workers between R3,500 and R3,900 a month, depending on how many hours they worked. It would stretch further than the salaries of workers in Mexico, Russia and Brazil, but not as far as those in Turkey, Poland and Latvia. The minimum wage in wealthier nations such as Germany and Luxembourg would go more than three times further than that earne...
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