The wage gap in Hungary has been narrowing thanks to a speedy increase in low wages.
According to Magyar Idők, citing labor market expert Piroska Szalai, gross median earnings have been growing faster than average earnings.
Szalai said gross median income, the amount that divides the income distribution into two equal groups, was estimated at 255,719 HUF (790 EUR) a month in 2018. She added that the median was 67 percent higher than in 2010 while the average wage grew by 60 percent.
Among the reasons for the closing wage gap she highlighted the dynamic growth in the minimum wage and the beneficial effects of a six-year wage agreement.
Between 2010 and 2018, the minimum wage increased by 88 percent and the minimum wage of skilled workers by 102 percent. This was above the increase in average earnings as well as median earnings, she said.
In line with OECD figures, after the significant increase in the minimum wage in 2012, the top 10 percent of earners received 3.7 times more than the bottom 10 percent, whereas earlier the difference was 4.1-4.6 times.