Rising energy prices affect households
The European Trade Union Confederation warns against unaffordable expenses. Compared to other EU countries, Luxembourg still has little to complain about.
A study published according to salaries
The European Trade Union Confederation warns against unaffordable expenses. Compared to other EU countries, Luxembourg still has little to complain about.
In most Member States of the European Union, the annual energy expenditure of low-paid workers is higher than their monthly income. This is the conclusion of a study commissioned by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
According to this study, 9.5 million working people were already struggling to pay their energy bills before the start of the extreme increase in the cost of living. In July this year alone, gas and electricity costs rose 38% across Europe compared to the previous year – and the trend is still rising.
Energy expenditure by country
The study makes a distinction between employees paid the minimum wage and average employees. The latter are facing difficulties in some countries such as Greece where middle-income earners need 36 to cover their energy expenses (situation in July), followed by the Czech Republic (33), Italy (30) and Slovenia (30).
Average employees are much less affected in Luxembourg. It only takes 14 days to cover the annual energy costs, which makes the Grand Duchy the second highest scorer in the EU after Lithuania (11).
In Lithuania, this is due to extremely low energy costs, while in Luxembourg, this is due to relatively high incomes. The neighboring country, Germany, is in the middle with 21 days, against 20 in France and 24 in Belgium.
The situation is much more dramatic for minimum wage recipients. According to the ETUC, developments since the start of the year have meant that workers earning the minimum wage in 16 EU member states have to put aside the equivalent of a month’s salary or more to operate light and heating at home. A year ago, this concerned “only” eight countries.
The number of days that a minimum wage earner has to spend paying his energy bill has increased in some countries: in Estonia, for example, it has increased from 26 days to 54 days, in the Netherlands from 20 days to increase to 48 days and in the Czech Republic 17 days to increase to 65 days. In the Czech Republic, low-paid workers therefore have to reimburse more than two months of income for their annual energy expenditure.
The situation is getting even worse
The French low wages reach 30 days, the Germans 33 and the Belgians 37. The ETUC figures do not provide explicit data on the recipients of the minimum wage in Luxembourg. According to the government, the minimum wage currently stands at 2,313 euros.
Minimum wage earners in Luxembourg therefore earn more than the average wage earner in ten other EU countries. It can therefore be assumed that the number of days Luxembourg low-wage workers have to work to cover their energy costs is also rather low compared to that of the EU.
The trade union confederation points out, however, that the figures refer to energy costs in July. He adds that the crisis has deepened further since then and is getting worse with the continued rise in the cost of energy and other basic necessities. “These prices are simply unaffordable for millions of people,” said ETUC Deputy General Secretary Esther Lynch.
This article was first published on wort.lu/de
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