On February 20, the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw hosted CELSI Scientific Director Martin Kahanec, who delivered a seminar on the concept of a Living Wage.

He presented a study titled “Global Benchmarks for Decent Living: Validating the Living Wage Against Minimum Wage and Other Adequacy Standards”, co-authored by CELSI researchers Martin Guzi, Nina Holičková, and Nii Ashia Amanquarnor from the WageIndicator Foundation.

Living wage is a work reward for standard working hours, which provides enough funds to cover the basic material needs for a dignified life. Publication of living wage estimates supports informed decision-making and it thus removes obstacles to wage negotiations and collective bargaining and thereby contributes to fairer working conditions for all.

Kahanec demonstrated that the living wage is a superior indicator of income adequacy compared to existing measures such as minimum and adequate wages.

“Our analysis shows that living wages align more closely with the threshold for a minimum income sufficient for a decent standard of living, offering policymakers, researchers, employers, and global institutions a robust tool for evaluating and improving wage policies,” the study concludes.

Living Wage estimates are published annually by the WageIndicator Foundation (WIF) for more than 165 countries. They were developed and continue to be updated thanks to the joint efforts of universities and research institutes from all over the world, including the Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI) in Slovakia, as well as thanks to hundreds of collaborators who participated in data collection.