{{Short description|Labour benchmark}} {{Globalize|article|UK|date=June 2020}} '''Average wage''' is the [[mean]] [[salary]] of a group of [[working class|workers]]. This measure is often monitored and used by government or other organisations as a benchmark for the wage level of individual workers in an industry, area or country.
The usefulness of this measure in assessing wage levels is debatable, particularly in an economy where [[low pay]] is prevalent, due to the tendency for the wages of a minority of high earners to 'skew' the average upwards. It has been argued that the median (midpoint) worker's wage is a better indicator in these circumstances; this measure is used in the UK by both the [[Office for National Statistics]] and the Scottish Low Pay Unit in examining wage levels.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newing |first=Helen |date=October 14, 2010 |title=Conducting Research in Conservation: Social Science Methods and Practice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgbHBQAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |page=276 |isbn=9781136934391}}</ref>
Certain UK organisations, usually [[socialist]] or left-of-centre political groups, have traditionally had a policy that members should never accept wages higher than the wage of the average working class person whilst being employed by that organisation or in a representative capacity. Deputies and officials paid an average worker's wage are also a feature of the [[Dictatorship of the Proletariat]] described in Marx's account of the [[Paris Commune]], [[The Civil War in France]], as well as in Lenin's [[The State and Revolution]] commentary on Marx's pamphlet, although not all people who draw an average workers wage subscribe to Marxist principles.
This idea is based on the idea that [[politician]]s (or [[trade union]] officials) are there to serve the people of the country rather than earn themselves a fortune and/or raise their status (also known as [[careerism]]). Proponents claim that high wages for politicians are a waste of [[taxpayer]]s' money and distance the politician from the concerns of the working class.
Examples of people taking only an average worker's wage are [[Socialist Party]] politician [[Joe Higgins (politician)|Joe Higgins]], former MP [[Dave Nellist]] in the UK, [[John Marek (politician)|John Marek]], [[Forward Wales]]' [[Welsh Assembly]] member for Wrexham, and [[Sinn Féin]] politicians in Ireland. In ''[[The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists]]'', [[Robert Tressell]] notes that the [[British Labour Party#Labour Representation Committee|Labour Representation Committee]] MPs of the day took only an average workers' wage.
==See also== *[[List of countries by average wage]] *[[Wages and salaries]]
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Average Worker's Wage}} [[Category:Socialism]] [[Category:Wages and salaries]]