Welfare Reform on the Web (August 2010): Minimum Wage - overseas

How should minimum wages be set in Australia?

M. Watts

Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 52, 2010, p.131-150

This article argues that the conflation of the wage and tax/transfer systems creates major contradictions in the principles of minimum wags adjustment and leads to adverse consequences. It argues for a simple rule for minimum wage changes, with the level occasionally being recalibrated to enable the ongoing social inclusion of recipients. It also looks at the international literature on minimum wage changes, seeing it as an anchor of the wage and price system.