I have a question

[theHandpuppet]

Pardon me if this is a dumb question but when I read this article it wasn't clear to me if the figures cited were for the whole of the UK. Since the population of NI is so small, I assume the figures were for the UK as a whole? Sometimes in the Belfast paper they're not very specific.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/300000-stuck-on-minimum-wage-29701342.html

I was interested in comparing these figures with those of the U.S.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2011.htm

Either way, the percentage of women working for poverty wages is appalling.

[tjwmason]

1. They're for the whole of the U.K.

The report to which the newspaper referred can be found on the web-site of the Resolution Foundation. http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/minimum-stay/

In drawing comparisons with the U.S. it's worth noting that the U.K. minimum wage is £6.31/hour (for those 21 and over), which converts to about $10/hour; this compares with the U.S. federal minimum of $7.25/hour.

[theHandpuppet]

2. Thanks much for your reply

I wonder if people in the UK realize just how many people here in the US are "living" on poverty wages.

[LeftishBrit]

3. Whole of UK, as tjwmason has said.

And the minimum wage, though a useful safeguard against severe poverty, is not really enough to live on in most parts of the country. The Living Wage, the minimum needed to afford the necessities of life and take account of occasional crises, is estimated to be 7 pounds 45 in the country as a whole, and 8 pounds 55 in London. Moral and consumer pressure can be exerted on organizations to pay it (even apart from union action - and too often the jobs most affected are not unionized), and there are a number of employers formally signed up as 'Living Wage Employers'; but it is not required by law, and about one-fifth of the working population get less than the Living Wage - including all minimum wage employees, and some who get slightly more.

[theHandpuppet]

4. One thing I've noticed about the cost of living in the UK

Cost of real estate is simply jaw-dropping! I cannot believe how much homes cost there. Why are the prices so high?

[Drew Peacock]

5. "Why are the prices so high?"

Too many people & not enough homes, is the simple answer.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Supply and demand,

and a few other period of time related factors which excessively contributed to house price inflation. To put our overall size in perspective its impossible to be more than about seventy miles away from the sea here on the mainland.

When, next, interests rates rise chaos will ensue.