Global Wage Report 2020-21: Wages and minimum wages in the time of COVID-19

Excerpt:

The year 2020 has been marked by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which rapidly generated an unprecedented global economic and labour market crisis with large losses in employment and working hours.  As the virus spread around the world, so did its economic repercussions. Workplaces were closed, enterprises were shut down, and millions of workers lost all or part of their incomes for weeks or months. Many countries implemented an unprecedented range of policy measures, without which the economic and labour market impact of the crisis would have been far worse. This report examines the evolution of real wages around the world, giving a unique picture of wage trends globally and by region. The 2020–21 edition also reviews minimum wage systems across the world and identifies the conditions under which minimum wages can reduce inequality.