Which other countries pay public sector more than private sector?

SLUSK

I lived in Ireland for 2 years before I said enough is enough and I got a cheap Ryan Air flight out along with all my monies which I had saved.

I found it very strange that the public sector earned more money than the private sector. I do not know of another country that has this model. Do you know any other country except Ireland where the public sector employees on average earn more than people in the private sector?

The_Honeybadger

SLUSK wrote: »

I lived in Ireland for 2 years before I said enough is enough and I got a cheap Ryan Air flight out along with all my monies which I had saved.

I found it very strange that the public sector earned more money than the private sector. I do not know of another country that has this model. Do you know any other country except Ireland where the public sector employees on average earn more than people in the private sector?

Don't have any stats but I know OECD commented not so long ago about how unusual this was. Hardly a reason to leave the country though???

gurramok

Good luck on getting those stats Slusk.

There was a thread last year where we searched and searched for an equivalent or higher equivalent of the public sector getting paid more than the private but could not find an example.

WalterMitty

Well there are several countries in Europe where average public sector pay exceeds average private sector but all stats i have seen show Irish public sector furthest ahead of all European public sectors. The averages dont really explain enough though and thats why the CSO did the salary comparison while controlling for variables such as education attainment, age, gender etc and the public sector is still way ahead.
It is hard to compare countries as the mix of public sector workers varies, pension entitlements vary, working hours vary etc etc.
We should only be paying the Eurozone average for public sector with a premium for higher cost of living that reduces as cost of living reduces. We are merely an average Eurozone country now and not a rich little tiger economy as we beleived.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/7036131/Record-gap-between-public-and-private-sector-pay.html
Mr Frost said: "This just isn't sustainable. My members are telling me that they are losing workers to the public sector, because not only can they see the better holidays and pensions, but also now the better pay.
"The wealth-creating private sector is losing out to the public sector. And we will have to pay for this – through higher taxes. We've got to get a grip."
For many years public sector workers were paid less than those in the private sector, with workers willing to accept lower pay in return for greater job security and better pensions. However in the last decade public sector pay has increased at a far greater rate, with GP partners now earning £107,000 a year and many head teachers in secondary schools paid more than £100,000

silverharp

The US. It's quite possible for a cop or teacher in the US to pay $90K into a scheme and retire with benefits worth $2m-$3m


and from Canada

http://www.cfib-fcei.ca/english/media_centre/canada/119-labour_policy/49-huge_wage_gaps_favour_public_sector_over_private_sector.html

Toronto, December 2, 2008 –Results from a new study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), reveal wages paid by the federal government to its employees are on average 17.3 per cent higher than what is earned in the private sector by those in equivalent occupations. The wage differential was derived from Census data representing more than 3.7 million full-time employees in 199 occupations, earning an average $60,924 annually in the federal government compared to $51,947 in the private sector.

ardmacha

Even if you could find such statistics you are only halfway towards knowing anything. If country x has a classroom assistant paid half as much as a teacher in every classroom then the average salary in education will be reduced by 25% and the overall public service average is reduced, but teachers might be paid exactly the same. If low end jobs like cleaning or road sweeping are privatised then the public sector average goes up and the private sector average goes down without anyone having a change in pay. As noted in another thread, averages can be very misleading.