Low Earners: Salaries Are Becoming Less Valuable

Between 2004 and 2023, workers' salaries increased nominally by an average of 2.5 percent per year, those of employees by 2.6 percent, as shown by the income report of the Court of Auditors published on Thursday. However, in real terms, i.e., adjusted for inflation, there were recent losses, especially among low earners.

Looking at the gross median incomes, public servants recently earned better than employees and workers, but the growth curve was weaker here, with an average of 2.3 percent in recent years. While the development of salaries is roughly comparable for employees and workers in nominal terms, a gap is evident in these groups in absolute numbers. Thus, the median gross annual income of workers in 2023 was 26,426 euros, while employees earned significantly more at 40,160 euros.

Little Change in Gap Between Men and Women

The gap between men and women has hardly changed recently. Although the median incomes of women in dependent employment developed relatively stronger over the years than those of men, this did not lead to any significant change in the relative income situation. To illustrate: In 1998, women's gross annual income was 60.6 percent of men's median income. This value only increased to 66.4 percent by 2023.

What also emerges from the report: Higher incomes tended to increase more strongly than lower ones. This is particularly evident in the 10 percent of the lowest gross incomes, which have increased nominally by 42 percent since 1998, whereas a whopping 82 percent increase was recorded for the 10 percent of the highest incomes. However, the Court of Auditors has also identified counter-trends since 2015, including collective agreement increases in minimum wages from 2017 onwards.

How Good the Salary Turns Out Also Depends Heavily on the Industry

The Court of Auditors also noted that there have been real losses in the past for the lowest incomes, i.e., inflation was not compensated by wage and salary increases. This becomes particularly clear when you take the gross median income from 1998 as a reference point: In 2023, only 78 percent of the income level at that time was reached. In the income category that is exceeded by 10 percent of recipients, the value compared to 1998 was slightly higher - inflation has therefore been compensated for this group since then. In the median, there was a slight decline in income compared to 1998, but the real loss here was nowhere near as strong as for low earners.

However, how good the salary turns out also depends heavily on the industry. Last year, the highest gross annual incomes were earned by employees in the energy supply sector (66,292 euros), in the finance and insurance sector (55,402 euros), and in the information and communication sector (52,469 euros). The lowest incomes by far were in the accommodation and catering sector (15,166 euros). The median incomes in the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector (19,520 euros) were also low.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.