Two-thirds of those on low pay are women, workplace report finds

Women, young people and older people are among the groups most affected by low pay, according to research. It also found that graduates were the largest single cohort in the country’s low-paid workforce. Workers in hospitality and food services, as well as retail, accounted for two-thirds of low-paid workers, according to Working In Ireland research, carried out by academics at institutions including union-backed think tank NERI and the UCD School of Business. Health and social care was another area in which low pay was found to be common, with manufacturing also featuring in the list.Hourly rates were not the only factor behind the prevalence of low pay in certain industries. READ MOREA total of 72 per cent of those whose weekly earnings met the various criteria to be considered low were earning more than the national minimum wage (currently €14.15), but were not working enough hours to make what is known as the real minimum wage. This is a rate calculated to represent what a single worker without dependents needs to earn to buy the basics required for the minimum essential standard of living.Retail and hospitality were two areas in which this was commonplace, the survey found, with employees often unable to secure enough hours of work each week to earn a decent standard of living.Women accounted for two-thirds of those found to be on low pay, with those aged 16 to 24 making up a third of the total. In the cases of the youngest and the oldest workers, the weekly earnings of more than half were found to fall short of the real living wage.These living wage figures are calculated in a number of ways, and the report lists its results against a number of standards, but the one most commonly referenced in Ireland is put forward by a technical group that estimates it annually and set it at €15.40 an hour for the past year.In terms of education, two-fifths of graduates were found to be on low pay, although the authors, including Lisa Wilson, Prof John Geary and Maria Belizón, said this was essentially the result of the high proportion of graduates in the Irish workforce. Those with lower levels of educational attainment were more likely to find themselves on low pay, they said.“The Government’s commitment to move the minimum wage towards a living wage is the right one. Eight in 10 of those on the minimum wage are low paid over the week, and a higher floor will lift them,” Wilson said. “It will also reach the one in five full-time workers whose weekly earnings fall below the real living wage, for whom the rate, not the hours, is the problem.“But most of Ireland’s low-paid workers are not on the minimum wage. They are above it, on hours that do not add up to a living wage, in jobs they are prepared to work hard in, but offer little training or development in return. “Improving their position means looking at the broader conditions of these jobs, and not only the price of an hour at the minimum.”The survey also looked at working conditions and found about 70 per cent of low-paid workers felt they were doing useful work most or all of the time. Six in 10 felt enthusiastic about their job and felt they belonged. Few got the opportunity for significant in-work training or upskilling, and opportunities to work with technology were rare – both factors were likely to hinder their progression to better-paid employment.