Welcome relief or indecent subsidy? The implications of wage top-up schemes

A key policy response to the downward pressure on wages of the lowest-paid workers in the developed economies of the capitalist world has been the introduction of meanstested cash transfer schemes by which to top up low wages. Findings from a study of the experiences of the beneficiaries of a particular scheme (the United Kingdom's Working Tax Credit) suggest that, although schemes may serve to relieve the poverty of low-paid workers and their families, the extent to which they promote the accessibility of 'decent work' is ambiguous.