Women in particular benefit: the cabinet decides on a new minimum wage on Wednesday

Especially women benefit
Cabinet decides on new minimum wage on Wednesday

With a minimum wage of 9.82 euros, Germany lags behind its European neighbors. However, the federal government is working to become a pioneer. Minister of Labor Heil is already expecting the corresponding decision on Wednesday.

The federal government wants to decide next week to increase the minimum wage to twelve euros. He is confident that the cabinet will initiate the increase on Wednesday, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil told the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”. More than six million employees would benefit from the increase.

For many employees, a minimum wage of twelve euros compared to today means “a wage increase of 22 percent,” stressed Heil. This would mainly benefit women and East Germans. The lower wage limit is currently EUR 9.82. On July 1st there will be another regular increase to EUR 10.45.

According to the information, the federal government wants to raise the minimum wage “once by law” on October 1 in order to react to the current price increases. The Minimum Wage Commission should again decide on future adjustments. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had put the twelve euros as a core promise at the center of his election campaign.

Important for the economy

The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) sees the increase as having an important effect on the German economy. “The higher minimum wage will also strengthen the purchasing power of the economy as a whole – extrapolated to around 4.8 billion euros per year,” said board member Stefan Körzell to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “In times of pandemic-related economic slumps, this is an important pillar of the economy, because a large part of the additional income will flow directly back into the economic cycle.”

According to a special evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office on behalf of the DGB, women in particular would benefit from the planned minimum wage increase. According to the data available to the Funke newspapers, almost every fifth of them currently works for an hourly wage of less than twelve euros. With 3.5 million female employees, 56.6 percent of the previous minimum wage earners would have more money in their pockets from October. Together with the 2.7 million male minimum wage earners, a total of 6.19 million people would benefit from a higher minimum wage.

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