At the opposite pole, there are the Swedes, Belgians and the Finns.
Differences between Member States are even more pronounced when median gross hourly earnings are expressed in euros. The highest median gross hourly earning in euro was recorded in Denmark (EUR25.5), ahead of Ireland (EUR20.2), Sweden (EUR18.5), Luxembourg (EUR18.4), Belgium (EUR17.3) and Finland (EUR17.2). In contrast, the lowest median gross hourly earnings in euro were registered in Bulgaria (EUR1.7) and Romania (EUR2.0), followed by Lithuania (EUR3.1), Latvia (EUR3.4) and Hungary (EUR3.6). In other words, across Member States, the highest national median gross hourly earning was 15 times higher than the lowest when expressed in euros.
The proportion of low-wage earners among employees amounted to 17.2% in 2014 in the European Union (EU). This means that they earned two-thirds or less of their national median gross hourly earnings.
In the EU in 2014, 21.1% of female employees were low-wage earners, compared with 13.5% of male employees. Moreover, almost a third (30.1%) of employees aged less than 30 were low wage earners, compared with 14% or less for age groups between 30 and 59.
In the EU in 2014, while 28.2% of employees with a low education level were low-wage earners, the proportion decreased to 20.9% for those with a medium education level and to less than 7% (6.4%) for employees with a high education level.