between $5 and $2,433 per month, depending on where you live.

每月5美元到2433美元之間，取決於你住的地方。

A minimum wage system is very complex.

一個最低工資制度是非常複雜的。

It depends from country to country, sector to sector, political landscape, you name it.

這取決於國家與國家之間，部門與部門之間，政治格局，你的名字。

But at the same time, a lot of people argue that increasing minimum wage could actually

但與此同時，很多人認為，提高最低工資實際上可以

lift millions of people out of poverty.

使數以百萬計的人擺脫貧困。

But some people argue that an increase in the minimum wage might lead to a loss of jobs.

但有些人認為，提高最低工資可能會導致工作崗位的流失。

That's debatable.

這是值得商榷的。

The minimum wage is the lowest amount of compensation an employer can legally pay its workers.

最低工資是僱主可以合法地支付給工人的最低補償金額。

That said, an estimated 266 million wage earners globally, 15% of the working population,

也就是說，全球估計有2.66億工薪族，佔工作人口的15%。

are paid below minimum wage.

僱員的工資低於最低工資。

This is either because they are not legally covered or because of non-compliance.

這要麼是因為他們沒有受到法律保護，要麼是因為不符合規定。

And of the 187 member states in the International Labour Organization, 10% don't have a minimum wage.

而在國際勞工組織的187個成員國中，10%的國家沒有最低工資。

So, why is that?

那麼，這是為什麼呢？

The effectiveness of a minimum wage has been debated since the concept was first introduced

自最低工資的概念首次提出以來，人們一直在爭論最低工資的有效性。

and has come even more into the forefront as income inequality within nations rises.

並且隨著國家內部收入不平等的加劇而更加凸顯出來。

To help me illustrate some points, I've enlisted the help of London correspondent

為了幫助我說明一些問題，我請來了倫敦記者的幫助

Silvia Amaro, who covers European politics and markets.

報道歐洲政治和市場的西爾維婭-阿馬羅。

Silvia, I have a question for you.

西爾維婭，我有一個問題要問你。

When you think about a minimum wage, what comes to mind?

當你想到最低工資時，你會想到什麼？

An ideal.

一個理想。

An ideal to avoid a race to the bottom when it comes to wages.

在工資問題上，避免競相壓低的理想。

And I use the word ideal, Nessa, because essentially there are too many elements that can decide

我使用理想這個詞，Nessa，因為本質上有太多的元素可以決定

the standards of living of people.

人民的生活水準。

What first came to my mind is one single magic number that applies to all employees in a

我首先想到的是一個適用於所有員工的單一神奇數字。

country that increases their standard of living, but it's not really a silver bullet, is it?

國家，提高他們的生活水準，但這並不是真正的銀彈，不是嗎？

No, it's not.

不，不是的。

Essentially, there's not a universal number.

從本質上講，沒有一個通用的數字。

But in essence when you look at a minimum wage, it needs to be enough to then cover

但從本質上講，當你看到最低工資時，它需要足以支付

income taxes, social contributions and other levies.

所得稅、社會捐款和其他稅費。

And when you look at these contributions, they also change from country to country.

而當你看這些貢獻時，它們也會因國家而改變。

Some countries may have as much as 50, or more, different minimum wage rates.

一些國家可能有多達50種，甚至更多的不同的最低工資標準。

And these rates are determined by factors like sector, occupation, age, or geographical region.

而這些比率是由部門、職業、年齡或地理區域等因素決定的。

That also adds another layer of complexity when you try to compare the different systems

當你試圖比較不同的系統時，這也增加了另一層的複雜性。

across the world.

在世界範圍內。

For example, as many as 14 countries in Africa have two rates: One for the agricultural sector

例如，非洲有多達14個國家有兩個比率。一個用於農業部門

and the other for everything else.

而另一個則用於其他一切。

In Europe, workers in the textile and leather industry have a lower rate.

在歐洲，紡織和皮革業的工人的比率較低。

And for big countries such as the U.S. and China, this disparity may apply across regions too,

而對於美國和中國這樣的大國來說，這種差異可能也適用於各地區。

because of the different costs of living, economic development and the labor market situation.

因為生活成本、經濟發展和勞動力市場狀況不同。

In Shanghai, which is China's financial hub, its minimum wage is the highest in the country.

在作為中國金融中心的上海，其最低工資是全國最高的。

What is the purpose of minimum wage?

最低工資的目的是什麼？

In very broad terms, the idea is to ensure fairness.

從非常廣泛的角度來看，這個想法是為了確保公平性。

We're talking about an idea that is meant to protect workers, but ultimately, it's

我們正在談論一個旨在保護工人的想法，但最終，它是

about ensuring equality in our societies.

關於確保我們社會中的平等。

But how are minimum wages determined?

但最低工資是如何確定的？

If it's too high, it gets hard to enforce.

如果它太高，就很難執行。

If it's too low, that protection net is gone.

如果它太低，這個保護網就會消失。

There's not a concrete formula how much a person should have, should earn, in order

沒有一個具體的公式，一個人應該有多少錢，應該賺多少錢，以便於

to live in a decent way.

以體面的方式生活。

This is a policy that is often debated around elections.

這是一項經常在選舉前後辯論的政策。

But at the same time, of course, in more practical terms, the minimum wage can also change because

但與此同時，當然，從更實際的角度來看，最低工資也可以改變，因為

of inflation.

的通貨膨脹。

Since 2010, countries with minimum wages have adjusted them every 3 years on average.

自2010年以來，設有最低工資的國家平均每3年調整一次。

So, it takes a while to adjust to higher consumer prices.

是以，需要一段時間來適應更高的消費價格。

Essentially, you needed a benchmark, to compare the systems across the world.

從本質上講，你需要一個基準，以比較世界各地的系統。

The one that we're using in this case, is the purchasing power parity exchange rates.

我們在這種情況下使用的，是購買力平價匯率。

All of these rates are converted into U.S. dollars, and then compared.

所有這些匯率都被轉換為美元，然後進行比較。

Globally, the median minimum wage level for 2019 is $486 per month.

在全球範圍內，2019年的最低工資水準中位數為每月486美元。

Luxembourg has one of the highest at $2,433 per month, while Australia and Canada are

盧森堡是最高的之一，每月2433美元，而澳洲和加拿大是

also near the top of the list.

也接近榜首。

At the bottom, we have countries like Mexico, Bangladesh and Uganda.

在底部，我們有墨西哥、孟加拉國和烏干達等國家。

It's important to also note that minimum wage is not an isolated concept, right?

還需要注意的是，最低工資不是一個孤立的概念，對嗎？

It works in tandem with other social and other employment policies.

它與其他社會政策和其他就業政策協同工作。

Yeah, absolutely.

是的，當然。

And when you look at the labor market, one of the issues that we see is the gender pay gap.

當你看一下勞動力市場，我們看到的一個問題是性別工資差距。

So in other words, the idea that men tend to earn more than women, even if they are

是以，換句話說，男性的收入往往比女性高，即使他們是

doing the same role.

做同樣的角色。

The idea with a minimum wage can also help in narrowing that gap between men and women.

有最低工資的想法也可以幫助縮小男女之間的這種差距。

There are some groups of workers in particular industries or occupations, for example agriculture

有一些特定行業或職業的工人群體，例如農業

or even domestic work, they are excluded from a minimum wage.

甚至是家務勞動，他們被排除在最低工資之外。

According to the ILO, 22.4 million domestic workers worldwide are not covered by any minimum

根據國際勞工組織的數據，全世界有2240萬名家庭傭工沒有受到任何最低限度的保護。

wage provisions.

工資規定。

And it's not just limited to specific industries.

而且這不僅僅侷限於特定行業。

In Oman, only nationals are covered by a minimum wage law.

在阿曼，只有國民受最低工資法的保護。

Foreign workers are notably excluded.

外國工人明顯被排除在外。

This brings us to the other side of the debate.

這讓我們看到了辯論的另一面。

There are a number of countries without statutory minimum wage systems.

有一些國家沒有法定最低工資制度。

So, for instance, the Nordic European countries, they have a collective bargaining system.

是以，例如，北歐的歐洲國家，他們有一個集體談判制度。

So, in other words, it's up to usually the trade unions or the workers to negotiate with

是以，換句話說，通常是由工會或工人來與之進行談判。

the employers, what are the minimum wages for certain types of jobs.

僱主，某些類型工作的最低工資是什麼。

So, it's not a government mandate, and it's not universal across the countries.

所以，這不是政府的任務，也不是各國的普遍做法。

Other countries have also bucked the trend, including the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

其他國家也逆勢而上，包括阿拉伯聯合酋長國和新加坡。

Singapore has, what it calls, a progressive wage model for certain sectors, which it claims

新加坡對某些部門實行所謂的累進工資模式，它聲稱

incentivizes workers to upgrade their skills and take on more responsibility.

激勵工人提升他們的技能並承擔更多責任。

And you might be surprised to learn countries like Germany, Malaysia and Qatar barely adopted

而你可能會驚訝地發現，像德國、馬來西亞和卡達這樣的國家幾乎沒有採用

minimum wage systems in the last decade.

在過去十年中，最低工資制度。

But for the majority, most of the debate is centered around whether to increase the current

但對大多數人來說，大部分的辯論都集中在是否增加目前的

rate or not.

率與否。

Let's imagine that there is indeed a government mandate to increase minimum wage, then smaller

讓我們想象一下，確實有一個政府授權增加最低工資，那麼小的

companies might decide, well, you know what, I don't want to pay more.

公司可能會決定，好吧，你知道嗎，我不想多付錢。

I'm going to hire workers part-time, going forward.

我打算僱用工人兼職，繼續前進。

And part-time will mean that these low-skilled jobs will essentially have less security for

而兼職將意味著這些低技能的工作在本質上會有更少的保障，因為

the workers, and they will potentially be earning less as well.

工人，他們的收入也有可能減少。

Part of it is Economics 101, right?

它的一部分是經濟學101，對嗎？

If you increase the minimum wage, then it might follow that you have to lay off some

如果你提高了最低工資，那麼你就可能不得不裁掉一些人。

workers, and this might create a spillover effect.

工人，而這可能會產生溢出效應。

It's also important to look at the actual increases.

看一下實際的增長情況也很重要。

And some people argue that when you increase minimum wage, it's because not it's not just

有些人認為，當你提高最低工資時，這是因為它不只是

because consumer prices are higher, potentially, but because those workers deserve to be paid more.

因為消費者價格可能更高，但因為這些工人應該得到更多的報酬。

A 1993 study by the late-economist Alan Krueger and his colleague David Card found that employment

後期經濟學家艾倫-克魯格和他的同事大衛-卡德1993年的研究發現，就業

levels in the U.S. state of New Jersey actually grew slightly after a minimum wage hike the

在美國新澤西州提高最低工資後，該州的工資水平實際上略有增長。

year before.

前一年。

It compared employment growth in New Jersey with Pennsylvania, which didn't increase

該報告將新澤西州的就業增長與賓夕法尼亞州進行了比較，後者沒有增加

the minimum wage.

最低工資。

The report, which challenged the conventional view then, that higher minimum wages led to

該報告挑戰了當時的傳統觀點，即較高的最低工資會導致

lower employment, won Card the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2021.

較低的就業率，在2021年為卡德贏得了諾貝爾經濟學獎。

You can read different people, different economists, and they will show you different points of view.

你可以閱讀不同的人，不同的經濟學家，他們會向你展示不同的觀點。

Some will keep arguing that, indeed, increasing minimum wages can increase inflation because

有些人會一直爭辯說，的確，提高最低工資會增加通貨膨脹，因為

people will have more money available, and therefore, they are more likely to spend it,

人們將有更多的錢可用，是以，他們更有可能花錢。

and that tends to increase inflation.

而這往往會增加通貨膨脹。

One thing's for sure: No two countries will have the exact same minimum wage systems.

有一件事是肯定的：沒有兩個國家會有完全相同的最低工資制度。

Many incorporate different features that can't be categorized so easily.

許多人結合了不同的功能，不能輕易歸類。

In fact, countries are continuously adjusting their minimum wages according to the changes

事實上，各國都在根據變化不斷調整其最低工資。

in their economies.

在他們的經濟中。

In a post-pandemic future, there might be more labor market shifts.

在大流行之後的未來，可能會有更多的勞動力市場轉變。

A 2021 report estimates that more than 4.3 million jobs may disappear over the next decade,

2021年的一份報告估計，在未來十年內可能會有超過430萬個工作崗位消失。

displaced by automation.

被自動化取代。

And a lot of these jobs in industries that they have highlighted, they are either minimum wage

而他們所強調的這些行業中的很多工作，要麼是最低工資

or low-wage jobs.

或低工資的工作。

So, I think this will remain a topic of discussion for the future, for sure.

是以，我認為這將仍然是未來討論的一個話題，是肯定的。

Essentially, a minimum wage isn't a means to an end.

從本質上講，最低工資並不是達到目的的手段。

Some people do argue that going forward, minimum wages will become obsolete, because of automation.

有些人確實認為，在未來，最低工資將變得過時，因為自動化。

And if you think about the concrete example, already in our modern lives, when you go to wage

如果你想一想具體的例子，在我們的現代生活中，當你去支付工資時，已經有了這樣的例子

the supermarket, you now have the option to self-checkout.

在超市裡，你現在可以選擇自助結賬。

But because inequality is such a global problem, perhaps minimum wages as a policy deserve

但由於不平等是一個全球性的問題，也許最低工資作為一項政策值得

our utmost attention.

我們最大的關注。

Silvia, have you ever worked, you know, a minimum wage or a low-wage job?

西爾維婭，你是否曾經做過，你知道，最低工資或低工資的工作？

I have, my first job was the minimum rate in the UK.

我有，我的第一份工作是英國的最低工資。

The only reason why I ask is because I've worked in a minimum wage job too, I think

我問的唯一原因是我也做過最低工資的工作，我想

I worked in some retail job, and I wasn't very good at it.

我做過一些零售工作，但我並不擅長。