€ould you live on the minimum wage?

That’s the question that the Small Firms Association believe should be put to new entrants to a workplace in ’08. The SFA have proposes the reduction of €1 in the minimum rate of pay so as to help small business to tackle the recession. They believe that less pay for the most vulnerable in the workforce will solve the credit crunch and stimulate trade. ESB goes up 17.5%, mortgages are accelerating beyond the ECB interest rate as Central Bank control of the banking industry fades to a distant memory, food up already by over 8% and when An Taoiseach was asked about prices increases by Eamon Gilmore in the Dail all he could tell his Tanaiste was “Phone the F*!?ers”

Yesterday the SFA spokesperson Patricia Callan and I discussed the matter on Morning Mix with Shane Dunphy on South East Radio. I am concerned that many young people that are under the age of 18 don’t benefit from the minimum wage. Those that do, find the minimum wage is actually a maximum wage. I am worried that the SFA plan will lead to a race to the bottom in working conditions and living standards for many young workers. Suggestions by the SFA that this will be deflationary are bogus because as it is many workers under 18 who don’t get the minimum rate are common in retailing and catering.

Today I'm running a poll and I’m asking a simple question, Could you survive on the present minimum wage of €8.65 per hour or €350 per week? When SFA's Patricia eventually said she could Shane just laughed at her. Vote above as you wish.

P.S. There’s no poll for asking who was Minister for Finance who stuck his head in the sand while the perfect storm formed.