A minimum wage increase is coming soon.
The minimum wage will indeed increase. No, it is not a campaign promise but a virtual economic certainty. Nor is it a government decision but an automatic revaluation, in effect for many years. In a few weeks, the minimum wage will allow three million French people to be paid a little better. Let’s not hide it: it will not disrupt their daily lives or offer them more luxurious living conditions.
Although everyday prices are rising much less quickly than last year, the fact remains that shopping carts are still more expensive, as are all consumer products. Not to mention energy bills (electricity, gas, fuel, etc.). The increase is certainly slower, but it has been continuous and significant since the beginning of the year. Which will lead to an increase in the minimum wage.
The calculation of the increase in the minimum wage is in fact based on the evolution of consumer prices, more precisely on the increase that it represents for the 20% of the poorest households. Their purchasing power being, by definition, lower than that of the average household, they are all the more weakened by price increases.
Between November 2023 and June 2024, prices increased by 1.36% for this category of the population. However, the minimum wage only increases automatically if the increase reaches 2% since November. The data may therefore seem far from the mark. However, INSEE announces that The Internet user that by the end of August, inflation since November will have reached 2%. The statistics institute is counting on a significant increase in prices this summer, particularly due to the prices charged during the Olympic Games.
This will therefore result in an automatic revaluation of the minimum wage of around 2%. This should be in the autumn, INSEE predicts. The inflation data for August will not be known until mid-September and will therefore not be able to lead to an increase in the minimum wage until 1 October at the earliest.
Concretely, for employees paid in this way, the minimum wage should therefore increase from 1,398.69 euros net per month to 1,426.66 euros net per month, i.e. 27.97 euros net more which will arrive in the bank account.