22nd among OECD Members
On February 23, the OECD released a report on job quality by country. According to the report, Korean workers recorded an average hourly income of US$14.6 in 2013 on a purchasing power parity basis to rank 22nd among OECD members.
Luxembourg recorded US$35.7 to top the list and it was followed by the Netherlands (US$35), Switzerland (US$33.5), Norway (US$31.9), Denmark (US$31.6) and Germany (US$31.2). France ranked eighth with US$28 and Australia took the 10th place with US$26.7. The United States (US$26.4), Canada (US$26.2) and Britain (US$22.1) ranked 11th, 12th and 16th, respectively.
Britain was followed by Spain (US$20.4), New Zealand (US$20.3), Italy (US$20.3) and Japan (US$19.6). Israel took the 23rd spot with US$13, followed by Greece (US$12.3) and Portugal (US$12). Mexico (US$5.2) was at the bottom of the list.
The Korea Economic Research Institute explained that Korea ranked low because Korean workers have a lower level of productivity with longer working hours. According to the OECD, employees and self-employed people in Korea worked for 2,124 hours on average per person in 2014, second only to Mexico among the 34 member countries. Meanwhile, Germany’s figure was as low as 1,302 hours.