I believe this is a very serious topic to discuss as far as civil servants are concerned. Our survival depends on wages and remuneration that come to us from the government. Apart from another stream of income that a salary earner should engage in to strike the balance of having enough to cater for his needs. A minimum wage or living wage should be enough to cater to the basic needs of the workers in society if they are to live way and cope with ever-rising commodities.
Minimum wage or living wage
Let's take a look at the terms in question. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, minimum wage is the smallest amount of money that employers are legally required to pay their workers. In contrast, a living wage is defined as enough money to afford essential items such as food and clothing. However, determining what constitutes a living wage can be challenging. For example, expenses for health, children's education, and housing are also necessary, but will employers recognize these as such?
It is so saddening seeing how our government and the Labour Union kept dragging what should be a reasonable amount to be paid as a minimum wage. Even though I may want to say the amount NLC is proposing is on the high side for the government to pay, however, considering the economic reality these days, I don't think any tangible amount is too much for the government to pay workers if they have the interest of the masses at heart.
It is so pathetic seeing how the government propose 48,000( about 32$) as the new minimum wage. Is it for transportation or what? The amount is not reasonable in today's economic situation. The president removed the fuel subsidy when he came on board last year which hurt the price of goods and commodities as the price kept skyrocketing by the day. This singular act coupled with the floating of naira has impacted virtually all aspects of human life, leaving households under significant strain. Expenses such as house rent and school fees have doubled, making it hard for families to survive the financial burden.
I know some people might want to say, ' We don't spend dollars here', well that is the truth we spend naira. However, most of the stuff we buy is dollars oriented as our nations rely heavily on importation. There are practically no goods you bought that you won't hear, ' dollars is high' is the slogan of many Nigerian marketers. It's worthwhile to know that no goods are reduced in price in Nigeria once the price soar. It's in our tradition.
I think what the government should look at is the amount that will cater for the worker's basic needs such as housing, food, clothing and other basic needs of the workers which the proposed 48,000 won't do. Any reasonable government shouldn't come up with that in this present situation when the price of a bag of rice alone is above 60,000. How do they expect the workers to survive if the government are not wicked?
Is it not better we started looking at the living wage and forgo minimum wage that is only percentage-oriented? The initial minimum wage was 30,000 which the government proposes to increase to 48k. However, this arrangement won't work as it will cause many workers to resort to all forms of social vices to survive the economic hardship.
This is to say that a living wage is far better than a minimum wage which is only percentage-oriented. Even if the government decided to increase the existing minimum wage by three hundred per cent it would still not meet up with the current economic realities of our dear nation.