There was a nine percent drop in the number of workers on the minimum wage in the last three months of 2018 but women are more likely to be earning lower pay, new official figures show.
The total number of employees earning less than the National Minimum Wage in 2018 24,500, down just 100 or 0.4% from 2017, the Central Statistic Office has revealed.
The statistics show that 7.6% of employees earned the minimum wage or less in Q4 of 2018, down from 8.6% in the same period of 2017.
That amounts to 137,200 employees who reported they earned the minimum wage or less and this was down by 13,500 year-on-year.
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But the figures show that females are more likely to earn the minimum wage or less than men, which was been consistent since these surveys were taken in 2016.
The CSO figures show that of the 137,200 workers who reported earning the minimum wage or, 75,900 or 55.3% were women while 61,300 or 44.7% were male.
When it comes to total numbers, 6.8% of all male employees in the State earned the new minimum or less and the corresponding figure for females was 8.3% in the last quarter of 2018.
The statistics, which come from the Labour Force Survey, which is the official source of employment statistics in this country, show that workers in the service sector are the least well paid and young people don’t fare much better.
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The service industry accounted for 83.5% of all workers who reported earning the minimum wage or less, while half of the total figure recorded were in the 15-24 age group.
Separately, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has revealed that they recovered over €3 million in unpaid wages last year.
The Commission’s annual report shows that this is a 75% increase on 2017 while it received more than 15,000 specific complaints with more than 25% relating to pay issues.
It has also emerged that a total of 4,050 working days were lost due to industrial relations dispute - the lowest number since 2012.
The Commission also carried out two inspection campaigns targeting the equine and fisheries sectors last year.
Minister of state for trade and employment Pat Breen welcomed the WRC report.
He said: “Last year was a very successful year for the WRC. As the economy continues to do well, we must ensure that those in work are paid what they are due and the WRC is playing a significant role in the pursuit of this objective.
