starvation wages
Barely survival income
Starvation wages are pay so low that workers can barely survive on them.
The phrase emphasizes exploitation—employers paying the minimum they can get away with rather than what labor is worth: Factory workers toiled for starvation wages while owners lived in mansions.
The term carries moral judgment, implying the wages are unjust rather than merely low.
Insultingly small payment
- meagerDeficient in quantity
- paltryContemptibly meager
- insufficientBelow required quantity
- scantBarely adequate amount
underpaid · undercompensated · bare minimum · subsistence level · unlivable · inadequate · deficient · measly
Exploitative manufacturing workplace
- worker rightsLegal protections for employees
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- power imbalanceUnequal distribution of control
- corporate greedExcessive pursuit of profit
human trafficking · child labor · forced labor · garment industry · factory conditions · union busting · migrant workers · domestic workers
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- food insecurityUncertain access to adequate meals
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
deprivation · squalor · homelessness · indigence · penury · privation · undernourishment · working poor
Reasonable compensation for work
- labor rightsEmployees' legal workplace entitlements
- social justiceFair distribution of opportunities
- economic justiceFair allocation of resources
- collective bargainingJoint worker-employer talks
unionization · pay equity · income equality · worker solidarity · protest · strike · activism · policy reform
pittance
Insultingly small payment
- meagerDeficient in quantity
- paltryContemptibly meager
- insufficientBelow required quantity
scant · underpaid · undercompensated · bare minimum · subsistence level · unlivable · inadequate · deficient · measly · trifling
sweatshop
Exploitative manufacturing workplace
- worker rightsLegal protections for employees
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- power imbalanceUnequal distribution of control
corporate greed · human trafficking · child labor · forced labor · garment industry · factory conditions · union busting · migrant workers · domestic workers · farm laborers
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- food insecurityUncertain access to adequate meals
impoverishment · deprivation · squalor · homelessness · indigence · penury · privation · undernourishment · working poor · subsistence
fair pay
Reasonable compensation for work
- labor rightsEmployees' legal workplace entitlements
- social justiceFair distribution of opportunities
- economic justiceFair allocation of resources
collective bargaining · unionization · pay equity · income equality · worker solidarity · protest · strike · activism · policy reform · legislation
starvation wagesliving wage
Income covering necessities
fair wage · executive compensation · six-figure salary · fair pay · top dollar
starvation, wages, starve, starved, starving, starveling, wage, waged, wager