http://archive.gunislfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10138095.html
07/10/2007 12:15 AM | By Suad Hamada, Special to Gulf News
Manama: Bahrainis in private and government sectors are struggling to make ends meet because of low salaries and inflation, a human rights activist said yesterday.
Speaking on a study released yesterday on living standards in Bahrain by the Bahrain Human Rights Society, activist Nabeel Rajab said that semi-official studies indicate that the poverty line for a Bahraini family in the year 1995 was stable at 309 Bahraini dinars (Dh3,010.81) but the cost of living had rapidly doubled. This makes it difficult for any Bahraini family to provide itself with minimum needs for less than 400 to 500 dinars per month.
http://archive.gunislfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10138095.html
07/10/2007 12:15 AM | By Suad Hamada, Special to Gulf News
Manama: Bahrainis in private and government sectors are struggling to make ends meet because of low salaries and inflation, a human rights activist said yesterday.
Speaking on a study released yesterday on living standards in Bahrain by the Bahrain Human Rights Society, activist Nabeel Rajab said that semi-official studies indicate that the poverty line for a Bahraini family in the year 1995 was stable at 309 Bahraini dinars (Dh3,010.81) but the cost of living had rapidly doubled. This makes it difficult for any Bahraini family to provide itself with minimum needs for less than 400 to 500 dinars per month.
No minimum wage
“When considering the high cost of housing, escalating food prices and the lack of public transportation, while the state does not impose any taxes on income or investment made by the higher classes, average citizens are now being burdened with 40 types of excessive fees for governmental services,” he said.
The study contains information from governmental sources which indicate that salaries in the public sector start at 200 dinars per month, with no minimum wage in the private sector. Most Bahrainis work in the private sector, where wages can be less than 40 dinars.
Rajab said that workers in the public sector enjoy relatively better conditions compared to workers in the private sector, especially in regard to the retirement scheme, social allowances for heads of families and the number of working hours, averaging 35 hours per week. But the number of working hours for the private sector employees are usually not less than 48 hours a week.
– Suad Hamada is a journalist based in Manama