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living wage

living wage

18 3.4
Money paid to a worker that is enough for their family to pay for basic needs
  • noun
  • /ˈlɪvɪŋ weɪdʒ/
translation icon : salario digno
  • Many participants mentioned the difficulty of finding employment, particularly a job that pays a living wage.
  • pay a living wage
  • earn a living wage
  • living-wage jobs

It's just you should be paid a living wage.

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Examples

  • Today, amid a burgeoning global marketplace, renovated movements advocating a living wage are gaining momentum.

    Academic text (2005)
  • And when the coffee market drops, that's when fair trade ensures that the farmers will receive a living wage for their coffee.

  • "Four dollars a day might have been a living wage back then," David said.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • I work full time and earn the living wage within the public sector.

  • And it's far harder to find a good living wage to be able to purchase your first house.

  • We all made more than a living wage and were treated like human beings.

    Blog text (11)
  • Lovers of justice usually agree that all Americans have a right to work at a living wage.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Acevedo discussed those who were working but not being paid a living wage.

    Academic text (2009)
  • So, start paying people a living wage and respecting the 40-hour work week and weekends.

    Blog text (3)
  • Many have worked in the industry a long time and deserve a living wage with decent benefits.

How Adequate

living wage
18 3.4
minimum wage
846 2.4

Surface Forms

living wage singular
living wages plural

Morphology

living + wage

The meaning is directly compositional: 'living' (relating to subsistence/standard of living) combined with 'wage' (regular pay) yields a wage sufficient to support living. This adj/compound pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows ordinary word-combination logic, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Living wage comes from the simple idea that living means being able to live and wage means pay. It shows pay big enough to cover rent, food and other 'basic needs', so it means a wage high enough for a normal life.