Justice of Wages in Germany and Abroad? An Empirical Investigation (Chapter 55)

Abstract

This paper deals with empirical studies on peoples’ opinions on justice of wages. Its material focuses on Germany, but it also takes other Western countries into account. There were some variations, but in general, for all societies researched, a majority estimated the distribution of wages to be unjust at the extremes: in their eyes, unskilled workers are paid too little and, even more clearly, executives are paid too much. The average income of the middle class employee is considered to be just by a (weak) majority, with regional exceptions. Interestingly, though perhaps not amazingly, almost all persons asked estimated their own income to be too low (at most, in some cases, just adequate), regardless of their position (executive, unskilled worker or other). With regard to public debate this data shows that Social Justice cannot simply be reduced to the question of equality of opportunity.