The government’s endorsement of a plan to increase the minimum wage from LL500,000 ($333) to LL700,000 ($467), accompanied by salary hikes for those earning up to LL1.8 million ($1200), gave rise to a fierce cacophony of debate. The claims and counterclaims pit different interest groups against one another, with arguments that the government has gone too far, not gone far enough or simply gone the wrong way. The impassioned reactions are predictable for the simple reason that this policy will directly line and lighten the pockets of employees and their employers, respectively. The worker Iktimal Halawi, an English teacher in an intermediate level school in Nabatiyeh, earns a monthly salary of LL580,000 ($387). “This is absolutely insufficient for us to live off,” she says. Iktimal argues the minimum wage does not amount to a living wage, adding that, “We can say now we are already living at the minimum level.”
