The International Labour Organisation recently reached an agreement to take the required steps towards a ‘Living Wage’ in order to improve labour rights. The Global Body’s document emphasised the importance of the notion, providing greater clarity.According to media reports, an Indian official stated that India will transition from a minimum wage to a living wage system by 2025.EPFO Adds 16.02 lakh Members In January; 8.08 Lakh Enroll for 1st Time.Minimum WageIn layman’s terms, the minimum wage is the lowest level of compensation that a company is required to give an employee. The primary unit is the amount earned in an hour. An employer cannot make a payment below that threshold. The average wage in India varies depending on the state and city. Hourly rates range between Rs 22 and Rs 50. Maharashtra, the richest state in the country, has a basic minimum pay of Rs 62.87 for unskilled workers. In Bihar, a state with low scores in most metrics, the minimum wage is Rs 49. 37 per hour. Aside from these disparities, one of the most significant challenges confronting the employment paradigm in the world’s most populous country is the type of employment. The majority of the almost 500 million-strong workforce is employed in the unorganised sector, which is not subject to examination. As a result, in many situations, even minimum wage conditions are not reached. For context, the federal minimum wage in the United States is now $7.25 per hour, or Rs 605.26.Killer Work: A 25-year-old IIT, IIM, and McKinsey employee committed suicide in Mumbai.Fair WageThen there’s the concept of a ‘Fair pay’, which comes after the minimum pay; a fair wage is somewhere between the minimum wage and the living wage. It exceeds the minimum level but falls short of what is required for a living standard. While the minimum wage establishes the starting point, the maximum bound of a fair wage is defined by the industry’s financial ability to compensate.Living WageFinally, we arrive to the central concept of the discourse, ‘Living Wage’. The goal here is to explore beyond the core necessities or what many people refer to as the ‘fundamental’ aspects of an individual’s existence. This is because the concept of minimum wage and its scope exposes a huge portion of the population to potential disruption, which is analogous to keeping one’s head above water while the rest of the body is submerged. This is clearly not a sustainable option.The global metaverse market is projected to generate $19.26 billion in revenue by 2023.As a result, the Living Wage considers variables that are outside of the core scope, such as increased certainty and security for the employee and their family. Simply said, this notion includes the minimal income required for a worker to meet basic essentials such as housing, food, healthcare, education, and clothing.
