Minimum wage workers and the low-wage labour market

This chapter is the first of two chapters that present the most important foundations for later analysis of contemporary minimum wage politics and policy. It begins with an overview of the typical occupational and employment profiles associated with minimum and low-wage workforces and then presents cross-country social survey data on the attitudes and experiences of low-wage workers in the English-speaking welfare states. Findings are clear: minimum and low-wage workers exemplify broader social and gender inequalities but workers express commitment to their work and a clear preference and need for higher pay. The chapter ends with a presentation of the basic architecture of minimum wage determination across the six liberal countries that are central to the analysis contained in this book.