The responsible commission wants to present its proposal for raising the minimum wage on Monday. Left parliamentary group leader Bartsch calls for an increase to 14 euros – and is not alone. The Ifo Institute advocates restraint in the adjustment.
The Left Party has spoken out in favor of a significant increase in the statutory minimum wage. “We are calling for the statutory minimum wage to be raised to 14 euros,” said Dietmar Bartsch, the parliamentary group leader of the Left in the Bundestag, the editorial network Germany (RND). The statutory minimum wage of twelve euros should no longer be decoupled from wage developments in society as a whole.
The Minimum Wage Commission, made up of employer and employee representatives, intends to present its proposal for the new level of the statutory minimum wage in Berlin on Monday. The traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP had raised it by law from 10.45 euros to 12.00 euros as of October 1, 2022. The Commission is now to propose the next increase on January 1, 2024. The government then usually makes the new value binding by regulation. The minimum wage has existed since 2015.
Bartsch: increase to 14 euros “more than justified”
The left considers an increase to 14 euros to be “more than justified” also because of the record inflation in 2022 and 2023. “We need a significant leap forward with the statutory minimum wage, also in order to make a contribution against increasing poverty in old age,” said Bartsch. Because the current minimum wage leads “straight into a poverty pension”.
economic researcher more different Opinion
The Munich Ifo Institute called for restraint in the upcoming adjustment of the statutory minimum wage. In principle, the minimum wage commission has the task of basing its recommendation for the increase on how collective wages have developed overall, said Ifo President Clemens Fuest of the Funke media group. “In the first quarter of 2023, collective wages were almost three percent higher than a year earlier, and the increase could be slightly higher by October. The point of this rule is that the minimum wages should follow the general collective wages, but should not determine wage development.”
Marcel Fratzscher, President of the German Institute for Economic Research, said, on the other hand, that an increase in the minimum wage to 14 euros from the current 12 euros would have positive effects on the economy as a whole. “Because it would support the purchasing power of many people and thus also stimulate demand and contribute to the economic upswing,” he said.
According to the chairwoman of the Social Association Germany, Michaela Engelmeier, the minimum wage would have to be increased to at least 14.13 euros in order to compensate for inflation. Yesterday, the Paritätische Gesamtverband also spoke out in favor of raising the minimum wage to at least 14 euros.
SPD politician: Minimum wage has proven itself millions of times
According to the first parliamentary secretary of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast, the minimum wage introduced in Germany in 2015 has “proven itself a million times over”. The social democrat told the dpa news agency before the upcoming decision by the responsible commission: “The economic strength of our country and social stability has something to do with the fact that there is a minimum wage. And that’s a good thing.”
Mast emphasized that the minimum wage is the government’s promise that nobody has to work at dumping wages. However, the SPD politician also said that the aim is not for people to work permanently for the minimum wage. “That would be disrespectful.” Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) will therefore present the law on collective bargaining planned by the coalition this year. Public contracts from the federal government should only go to companies that pay according to tariffs. The traffic light had agreed in their coalition agreement.