Luxembourg has the highest minimum wage in the EU, though most lower-income households see most of their income go towards rent.  Copyright (c) 2019 Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock. No use without permission.

Luxembourg has the highest minimum wage in the EU, though most lower-income households see most of their income go towards rent.  Copyright (c) 2019 Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock. No use without permission.

Although Luxembourg has by far the highest minimum wages out of the 27 EU member states, one in five people in Luxembourg still is at risk of poverty. A rate that is mirrored by the EU average. The EU Parliament is now acting towards EU-wide fair wages.

The EU Parliament, in response to seeing seven out of ten minimum wage workers in the EU finding it difficult to make ends meet, proposed a European minimum wage. A law on adequate wages across the EU--which would assure a decent standard of living--has been prepared: MEPs on 25 November 2021 adopted the negotiating mandate, which will now be discussed between the parliament and council to determine the final form of the law.  

While Luxembourg minimum wage workers receive €2,202 in Luxembourg, living with that amount is often not enough. study found that in 2020, 11.8% of professionally active residents in Luxembourg were at risk of poverty, a higher rate than the 10% EU average. Despite their high wages in comparison to other EU countries, low-income households--the 20% of least well-off tenants--, whereas a third of households (34,5%) paid over 40% of their disposable income towards keeping a roof over their head.

Statec, Luxembourg’s bureau of statistics, that the overall at-risk of poverty rate in Luxembourg is 17.2%.

Though the minimum wage cannot be the same across the EU, as commissioner for jobs and social rights , the new EU mandate asks for a minimum wage that allows a decent living quality in consideration of the area the worker lives in.