minimum wage
The lowest hourly, daily, or monthly wage that employers are legally allowed to pay their workers.
speakingWork and economy
IELTS use
Essential for discussing labour laws, income inequality, and economic policy in IELTS speaking.
Examples
- Raising the minimum wage can help reduce poverty but may also lead to job losses.
- There is an ongoing debate about whether the minimum wage should be adjusted for inflation.
- Many workers in the informal sector do not benefit from the minimum wage laws.
Collocations
- minimum wage increase
- The minimum wage increase was welcomed by labour unions.
- minimum wage law
- Minimum wage laws vary significantly across different countries.
- raise the minimum wage
- The government decided to raise the minimum wage by 10%.
- minimum wage worker
- Minimum wage workers often struggle to cover basic living expenses.
Word family
- Noun
- wage
- Adjective
- wage-related
Paraphrases
- lowest legal wage: A descriptive paraphrase emphasizing the legal aspect.
- base wage: Shortened form, sometimes used in business contexts.
- statutory minimum pay: More formal, often used in legal or policy discussions.
Common mistakes
- The minimum wage is a important issue. to The minimum wage is an important issue.. Use 'an' before vowel sounds ('important' starts with a vowel sound).
- Government should increase minimum wage to help poor people. to The government should increase the minimum wage to help low-income people.. Add 'the' before 'government' and 'minimum wage'; 'poor people' can be replaced with 'low-income people' for precision.
- Minimum wage workers earn low salary. to Minimum wage workers earn a low salary.. Include the article 'a' before 'low salary'.