Workers earning the minimum wage in Ireland are "not able" to enjoy a "decent standard of living" due to rising costs of living.
Social Justice Ireland (SJI) has issued the warning after an Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report found that minimum wage workers have lower job quality, experience more job insecurity, and work longer shifts.
The report found that the workers were much less likely to be members of a trade union and to have access to the option of flexible working, including working from home.
At present, those aged 20 and over must be paid at least €11.30 an hour; those aged 19 are entitled to €10.17, 18-year-olds can be paid €9.04 and those under 18 earn at least €7.91.
SJI spokesperson Susanne Rodgers said society has "accepted" that "anybody who was on a minimum wage job was also subject to temporary contracts" and "wasn't guaranteed the hours".
"It just goes to show that there was a link between the quantity of money that you're earning and the quality of jobs that you're having to work in in some of these minimum wage jobs," she told Newstalk Breakfast.
Living wage
Ms Rogers said the phrase 'living wage' is clear in what it's trying to achieve.
"Anybody working full time should be able to earn enough to enjoy a decent standard of living," she said.
"It's not a huge amount of money we're talking about here.
"A living wage would at least allow you to earn €13.85 an hour."
Research
In studies conducted on the minimum wage in America, Ms Rogers said the bulk of the evidence suggests that "the employment effect of raising the minimum wage is inconsequential".
"In states that have raised the minimum wage, the impact on jobs has been minimal," she said.
"The impact on prices has been 0.5% to 0.58%."
Long-term minimum wage
Ms Rogers said there is a widely held belief that those working minimum wage jobs are typically young people, who do not need to earn larger sums of money.
"The very last piece of the ESRI study says, 'For many low-paid workers, minimum wage employment may be a relatively short-term stepping stone to higher pay,'" she said.
"'However, for others, it may be a longer-term arrangement' – I think that's the difficulty here.
"The combination of low pay and other potentially unfavourable job quality measures is of particular concern for those individuals that may be that long-term minimum wage employees.
"The bottom line is, if you go to work, the wages that you're paid should provide you with a basic standard of living."
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