ANP
–
NOS News•today, 00:00
—
Of every euro earned last year, 74.9 cents went to the wages of employees and the self-employed. That is less than the year before. In the first corona year 2020, 77 cents of every euro earned went to employees and the self-employed.
–
This is apparent from figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) about the so-called labor income ratio in the market sector. That is the total economy without government, education and health care, among other things.
–
The labor income ratio says something about who receives the earnings of an economy. In 2021, the labor income ratio again remained below the long-term average from 1995 to 2021.
–
Profits up
The fact that relatively less money went to employees and the self-employed was mainly due to increased profits, CBS reports. In 2021, the economy recovered after the first corona blow, and corporate profits rose as a result. Wages remained relatively stable, leaving more money for companies, Statistics Netherlands reported. The labor income ratio fell.
–
In 2020 it was still the other way around: profits fell sharply due to the corona blow, but wages remained more or less the same. As a result, the labor income ratio rose that year.
–
Raising wages
The share of money going to employees and the self-employed fell the most last year in the catering industry, but it also fell in transport, storage and industry.
–
In the cultural sector and sports and recreation, a larger part of the money went to incomes. This is because profits in those sectors were still negative in 2021, CBS reports.
–
The Central Planning Bureau concluded last week that there is room to increase wages. The researchers then also pointed to the fall in the labor income ratio and the increase in profits. As far as the researchers are concerned, this means that wages can be increased once. That would also ensure a more even distribution of the burden of inflation between businesses and households, they say.
—
