Calls have been made to scrap the reduced minimum wage for young people after research published showed that some, but not all, businesses pay the regular minimum wage.

The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) and the Labour party have used this occasion to condemn the unfair sub-wage and to demand it be scrapped. The minimum wage in Ireland in 2023 is €11.30 per hour.

However, current legislation allows employers to pay young workers a sub-minimum youth rate of as little as €7.91 an hour, just 70% of the main rate. The research came from the ESRI (Economic and Social Research) thinktank and it revealed that while all employees aged 15–19 could legally be paid a sub-minimum youth rate, just under one-quarter are actually paid this rate.

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The remaining three-quarters earn a higher wage. Just 1 in every 140 employees earns a sub-minimum youth rate.

This is equivalent to approximately 15,000 individuals. Just over half (55%) of sub-minimum youth rate employees are women and 77% work in either the accommodation, food or retail sectors.

Approximately 80% of sub-minimum youth-rate employees classify themselves as students. Labour’s employment spokeswoman, Marie Sherlock, welcomed the report, but still called for the lower wage for workers to be ditched.

She said: “The ERSI research is welcome in that it adds to our knowledge of what young workers are paid in this country.

“However, the research does not change the fact that the sub-minimum wage is inherently discriminatory. It treats adults aged 18 and 19 like children, and it reflects a patriarchal view that their earnings are akin to pocket money.

“The reality is that thousands of 18-19 year olds depend on their work to survive.

“Whether they are students or work is their main activity we know that many are paying rent, bills and other expenses, and they deserve to be paid a fair wage.”

Paul Gordon, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the NYCI said: “This report highlights the need to put an end to sub-minimum rates of pay for young workers in Ireland.

“Unfortunately, what it shows is that under existing legislation, a minority of vulnerable workers are being discriminated against on the basis of their age.

“15,000 young workers under the age of 20 are subject to wages that can be as low as €7.91 per hour.

“This leaves young people, on what are effectively poverty wages, open to exploitation and puts many providing for themselves and for their families in serious financial difficulty.

“What this means in practice is that after the minimum wage is increased in January, an 18-year-old worker will still earn €4,600 less per year (gross) compared to a 20-year-old doing the same job.”

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