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Determining the Minimum Wage: A Household Expenditure Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

D.H. Plowman ,
J. Taplin  and
J. Henstridge
D.H. Plowman
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Management, University of Western Australia. Department of Information Management and Marketing, University of Western Australia. Data Analysis Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia
J. Taplin
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Management, University of Western Australia. Department of Information Management and Marketing, University of Western Australia. Data Analysis Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia
J. Henstridge
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Management, University of Western Australia. Department of Information Management and Marketing, University of Western Australia. Data Analysis Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia
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Abstract

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The establishment of a minimum wage, a wage below which no employer can pay able bodied full-time employees, is a common feature in most industrialised societies. In many of these societies the minimum wage is determined by government fiat. In Australia, the prevailing method of minimum wage determination has been by way of industrial tribunals. In their minimum wage role both governments and industrial tribunals need to determine minimum wage criteria as well as mechanisms for operationalising the criteria This paper proposes ‘reasonable living’ needs criteria for minimum wage determination. By analysing the Household Expenditure Survey it also suggests the amount which would constitute a ‘reasonable living’ minimum wage for labourers in Australia.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , December 1996 , pp. 244 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1996

Footnotes

*

This paper is based on a report commissioned by the Western Australian Department of Labour and Productivity. We wish to thank the Department for its assistance. The report formed the basis for the Minister’s determination of the Minimum Wage in Western Australia.

References

Plowman, D. H. (1995) ‘Protecting the Low Income Earner: Minimum Wage Determination in Australia’, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 252–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar