Workers in an umbrella manufacturer, China

Topic portal

Wages

Wages are among the most important conditions of work and a major subject of collective bargaining. The ILO is committed to promoting policies on wages and incomes that ensure a just share of the fruits of progress to all and a minimum living wage for all employed in need of such protection. In order to do so it undertakes research and provides evidence-based policy advice on minimum wages, public sector pay, wage bargaining and gender pay gaps. Since 2008, the ILO publishes the Global Wage Report, one of its flagship reports and an authoritative source of information on wage trends and policies at national and global levels.

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Man wearing a work uniform holds a machine wheel in a factory.
Global Wage Report 2024-25: Is wage inequality decreasing globally?

Global Wage Report 2024-25: Is wage inequality decreasing globally?

This latest edition of the ILO flagship report provides a detailed look at wage trends around the world and in different regions, highlighting changes in wage inequality and real wage growth.

Thematic pages

Living wages
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Living wages

The Protection of Wages
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The Protection of Wages

Wage bargaining
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Wage bargaining

The gender pay gap
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The gender pay gap

Minimum Wage Policy Guide
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Minimum Wage Policy Guide

The Global Wage Report
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The Global Wage Report

Technical cooperation projects

Setting adequate wages - a focus on agriculture
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SAW-A Project

Setting adequate wages - a focus on agriculture

Setting adequate wages
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SAW Project

Setting adequate wages

Indicators and methodologies for setting adequate wages
Indicators and methodologies for setting adequate wages project header

Indicators and methodologies for setting adequate wages

Principles for wage setting

Setting wages should consider both the needs of workers and their families as well as economic factors, which are the two pillars of wage-setting processes. To support its members in determining adequate wages, the ILO has developed a methodology to estimate the needs of workers and their families, as well as a compendium of economic factors that can be used in wage setting.

Economic factors for wage setting
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Report

Economic factors for wage setting

A methodology to estimate the needs of workers and their families for the purpose of wage setting, including living wages

Report

A methodology to estimate the needs of workers and their families for the purpose of wage setting, including living wages

Key publications

The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: A global analysis in the time of COVID-19

Report

The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: A global analysis in the time of COVID-19

Inequalities in the world of work

Report

Inequalities in the world of work

A Review of Wage Setting through Collective Bargaining

Report

A Review of Wage Setting through Collective Bargaining

Temporary wage subsidies

Factsheet

Temporary wage subsidies

General Survey on Minimum Wage Systems (2014)

Publication

General Survey on Minimum Wage Systems (2014)

Protection of workers’ wage claims in enterprise insolvency

Factsheet

Protection of workers’ wage claims in enterprise insolvency

Latest publications and documents

Artificial intelligence adoption and gender wage inequality: evidence from China

Research brief

Artificial intelligence adoption and gender wage inequality: evidence from China

Spillover effects of the Middle East crisis on jobs and livelihoods in Pakistan

ILO Brief

Spillover effects of the Middle East crisis on jobs and livelihoods in Pakistan

Inequalities in the world of work

Report

Inequalities in the world of work

News and stories

Poverty and barriers to education driving child labour in rural Myanmar, new ILO study finds
A boy uses a metal scoop to handle grain beside rows of large white sacks in a harvested field, while several other children and a young person stand nearby.

Poverty and barriers to education driving child labour in rural Myanmar, new ILO study finds

Sri Lanka strengthens wage-setting institutions with International Labour Organization support
Sri Lankan worker in a fabric factory

Sri Lanka strengthens wage-setting institutions with International Labour Organization support

Databases

Statistics on wages (ILOSTAT)

Statistics on wages (ILOSTAT)

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Turin course on Wages_2024
Wage policies and living wages: everything you always wanted to know

Wage policies and living wages: everything you always wanted to know

Learn about minimum and living wages in this online course, offered every two years in English, French, and Spanish. The latest course took place from 17 June to 12 July 2024.

Contact info

For additional information on the ILO's Wages topic please contact the Inclusive Labour Markets, Wages and Working Conditions Branch at [email protected]