Publication
Submission to the Low Pay Commission on sub-minimum rates
Online version
Position on sub-minimum rates
The submission opposes lower minimum-wage rates for young people and reduced social protection payments based on age. It argues that a full weekly wage or payment should not leave a person below the poverty threshold or dependent on family members or charity for basic needs.
It also asks whether young workers received even the statutory sub-minimum rates. The paper points to JobBridge and informal internships, arguing that unpaid or very low-paid placements institutionalised poverty and shifted the cost of employment onto young people and the state.
Employment evidence
The submission challenges the claim that lower wage rates improve youth employment. It cites Central Statistics Office data for December 2015. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for all ages was 8.8 per cent, while the rate for people aged 15 to 24 was 19.2 per cent. It also gives 2011 census figures for the state, Dublin city and Ballymun to illustrate high youth unemployment and low labour-force participation.
The paper concludes that low youth wages did not produce high participation in employment. It adds that emigration reduced the number of young people appearing in unemployment statistics.
Education and apprenticeships
The proposed alternative is investment in skills. The submission supports comprehensive third-level maintenance grants, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It also calls for a renewed apprenticeship system for young people who do not have formal third-level qualifications.
Employers, in this account, should contribute to training, pay the agreed national apprenticeship rate and provide appropriate study leave. The submission warns against designing apprenticeships as a permanent employer subsidy.
Labour activation and the local economy
The paper cites trade-union criticism of JobBridge as workfare and notes increased use of jobseeker sanctions. It describes the combination of reduced payments and sanctions as economic pressure to accept placements.
Finally, it argues that raising the wages of the lowest-paid workers supports consumer spending and local businesses. Concentrating income in senior salaries or company profits, it says, produces less benefit for the consumer economy.
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