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What is a fair wage? Why aren't more people in the world offered pay equality? These are some of the questions the United Nations International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recently investigated. With a global population of over seven billion, is it actually possible to measure an average amount? The ILO has now tried to work out the sums. Using the total wage bill from over seventy countries, they have multiplied the amounts by the number of earners in each country. The economists then tallied up the results and divided them by the total number across the world. The result was a world average wage equivalent to $1,490 a month. That is approximately $75 a day for a 20-day working month. This figure might seem very high because they calculated the amount using purchasing power parity dollars, which takes into account the fact that it is cheaper to live in some countries than others. The data also did not include the huge number of people who appear in poverty statistics or who are self-employed. Calculating an average sum like this might not be a completely fair representation, but these figures do help us to understand how the world is developing, both economically, in the quality of life people are experiencing and their standard of living. But the result shows that the average wage is still relatively low and there remains a huge difference in levels of affluence around the world. Some people live on just two dollars a day, whilst others are earning more than a million dollars a year. Is this fair? For many, pay equality still seems very far out of reach. Quiz 测验 Is this statement true, false or not given? The ILO used statistics from over 70 different countries. True The sum the ILO calculated was: a standard wage; an approximate wage; an average wage? an average wage When someone works for themselves, what are they called? self-employed What data did the ILO not include in the sums? poverty statistics, people who are self-employed What is another name used for levels of wealth? affluence Glossary 词汇表 a fair wage 公平的工资 pay equality 平等的工资 an average amount 平均数量 sums 总数 the total wage bill (total pay amount) 工资总数 multiplied by 乘以 an earner 赚钱的人 to tally up 加起来 divided by 除以 equivalent to 相对于 figures 数据 to calculate 计算 purchasing power parity 购买力平价 to take into account 考虑到 statistics 统计数据 self-employed 自雇人士 quality of life 生活质量 standard of living 生活水平 affluence 富裕 |
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