cost-of-living allowance
1
4.1
- noun
- /kɔst əv ˈlɪvɪŋ əˈlaʊəns/
- Specialized
:
ajuste por costo de vida
Examples
-
Double the cost of living allowance and return to Carter tax rates on the top 20%.
Blog text (14) -
The freeze was followed by the temporary suspension of the cost-of-living allowance arrangements.
Academic text (1994) -
The increases, known as cost of living allowances (COLAs), were authorized again in 1952 and in 1972 were made automatic, based on annual increases in consumer prices.
Academic text (2002) -
The Indian government uses the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data to revise and fix the minimum wage, to determine the cost of living allowance, to measure the trends of inflation, and to formulate the policies regarding wages.
Academic text (2018) -
Many companies offer a cost-of-living allowance to help employees manage increased expenses due to inflation.
-
The cost-of-living allowance is adjusted annually based on changes in the consumer price index.
-
Employees in high-cost areas often receive a higher cost-of-living allowance than those in lower-cost regions.
Synonyms
A payment that automatically increases when prices rise to help people afford things
How Generous
- Specialized
1
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
cost-of-living + allowance
The meaning 'an allowance to compensate for changes in the cost of living' is directly built from the constituents 'cost (of) living' and 'allowance'; a learner who knows 'cost', 'living' and 'allowance' can reasonably infer it refers to money paid to cover living costs or inflation. This is a literal, compositional compound with no idiomatic shift and follows a common cross-linguistic pattern, so it is immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
Cost-of-living allowance comes from the simple idea of giving extra money when the cost-of-living, the price of everyday things, goes up, and an allowance is a fixed amount paid to help with that. So it means 'extra money' paid to help people 'keep up' with rising prices.