Inflation "eats" plus

This is how much more Lower Austrians earned

Lower Austrians earned 198 euros more on average in 2023. However, after deducting inflation, not even a "tenner" remained.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

Inflation and inflation have largely eaten up the increase in real wages in Lower Austria. In view of these figures from 2023, the President of the Chamber of Labor is now calling for fair taxes - and is not ruling out a machine tax.

While FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl is currently courting domestic industry, Markus Wieser is going in the opposite direction. But not for ideological reasons, as the President of the Lower Austrian Chamber of Labour emphasizes: "It is a purely mathematical problem when 80 percent of tax revenue is generated from wages, but human performance only accounts for 60 percent of the value added by companies," he calls for a rethink.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stock Adobe)

More and more Lower Austrians are no longer able to get by on their income, says Wieser. And that despite rising wages. After deducting inflation, social security and taxes, the increase of 198 euros in the Börsl shrinks to less than 10 euros - or the equivalent of 0.5 percent.

St. Pölten top, Waldviertel flop
This is the result of the current income analysis for 2023, in which the provincial capital was able to take the lead in terms of median income for the first time thanks to many top jobs in the administration. It is followed by the traditionally strong districts of Amstetten and Scheibbs. "Because there are many manufacturing industries here," says Wieser.

Companies should be taxed according to their added value, not purely according to wage income!

Markus Wieser, Präsident der NÖ-Arbeitkammer

Bild: AKNÖ

The situation is different in the Waldviertel, where the district of Krems-Land brings up the rear. Why? Because there are around six times as many farmers here as the national average - and this sector pays lower wages. This also explains the "gender gap". This is because women usually work in lower-paid jobs and also often work part-time.