Policy Briefs
Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia: Implications for Social Protection Floors
No.
PB 89
Publisher
ERF
Date
August, 2022
Topic
J. Labor and Demographic Economics
In a nutshell
- While the majority of workers in Jordan and Tunisia earn at least minimum and poverty wages, only a minority of workers earn a living wage.
- Whether workers meet wage benchmarks depends on the characteristics of their workplaces, their specific work (especially job formality and skills required), and workers’ demographics.
- Providing universal basic income to the level of even minimum or poverty wages would be, fiscally, extremely difficult. Transfers that target the gaps between minimum or poverty wages and current wages to help the working poor would be more feasible.
- There are complex tradeoffs in increasing the minimum wage or its enforcement. However, improving the design of minimum wages, for instance so that they are simpler and annual adjustments occur based on inflation, could help workers meet their basic needs.
Authors
Caroline Krafft
Associate Professor of Economics, St. Catherine University
Research Associates
Cyrine Hannafi
Post-Doctoral Researcher, University Paris-Est Créteil