| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Compared to the minimum monthly salary in your country, do you earn (net): Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Compared to the minimum monthly salary in your country, do you earn (net):".
This poll was originally submitted by Rita Utt. View the poll results »
| | | | | Other is missing... | May 9, 2022 |
Well, the unpredictability of income is one of the hardest parts of starting to work as a freelancer after being in-house. Gone is the fixed monthly salary, instead you rely on being able to bring in enough to live from month to month. Portugal being among the 13 Member States of the EU with the lowest minimum wage (around 800 euros), let’s say that on a bad month I earn 3 times more than the minimum wage…
| | | | | More options needed | May 9, 2022 |
Minimum wage here is a paltry USD 9.70 per day (1.19 per hour). My starting hourly rate 30x that. We need more options.
| | | | Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 09:40
Member
English to Turkish
Vasaporn Chaiyakul wrote:
My starting hourly rate 30x that.
You can say "I'm making sh*t loads".
Btw it may not be such a good idea to advertise this fact too publicly. You probably wouldn't want the taxman to come calling and helping himself to some of that wealth.
[Edited at 2022-05-09 12:51 GMT]
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| Don't Know What A "Minimum Monthly Salary" Is | May 9, 2022 |
We don't have such a thing in the US, as far as I know. You either work at a steady, regular job, for which you get paid a specific sum, depending on your skill set and educational level, until you get a raise or, heaven forbid, your hours are cut. Or if you are like me, you receive a monthly social security check because of your age, and only work as a freelancer when and if you find the project interesting and or advantageous, because of who the client might happen to be, and/or because it pay... See more We don't have such a thing in the US, as far as I know. You either work at a steady, regular job, for which you get paid a specific sum, depending on your skill set and educational level, until you get a raise or, heaven forbid, your hours are cut. Or if you are like me, you receive a monthly social security check because of your age, and only work as a freelancer when and if you find the project interesting and or advantageous, because of who the client might happen to be, and/or because it pays enough to motivate you to take it on.
[Edited at 2022-05-09 14:51 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-05-09 18:51 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The point was.. | May 9, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote: Vasaporn Chaiyakul wrote:
My starting hourly rate 30x that. You can say "I'm making sh*t loads". Btw it may not be such a good idea to advertise this fact too publicly. You probably wouldn't want the taxman to come calling and helping himself to some of that wealth. [Edited at 2022-05-09 12:51 GMT]
Living in developing countries, it's not uncommon to make 10-50 times the minimum wage at all. The income gap is hilariously high. For just $12 per hour you're making 10x the min wage here, and ProZ is listing a Standard Rate of $32 per hour for my first pair. Translation is a globalized industry. No one needs to adjust their income to the country they're living in. Nor should they accept absurdly low rates from vendors. This poll didn't account for the fact that income inequality exists in third-world countries, and min wage has been kept low for reasons.
[Edited at 2022-05-09 16:44 GMT]
| | | | MollyRose
United States
Local time: 01:40
English to Spanish
+ ...
| minimum wage in the U.S. | May 9, 2022 |
We have a minimum hourly wage, not monthly. Yet this is not for the whole country. The minimum federal hourly wage is $7.25, but each state can make their minimum higher if they want, but not lower.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 09:40
Member
English to Turkish
| Excellent point | May 9, 2022 |
Vasaporn Chaiyakul wrote:
Translation is a globalized industry. No one needs to adjust their income to the country they're living in. Nor should they accept absurdly low rates from vendors.
I wish more colleagues from 'developing countries' had this mindset instead of merely contenting themselves with the living conditions of their own countries (and, doubtless, relishing the prospecting of undercutting their colleagues further -and thereby cramping the style of those who have to work in those unfortunate language pairs in developed countries- as their local currency gets devalued against USD).
[Edited at 2022-05-09 19:57 GMT]
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 03:40
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Minimum Salary where? | May 10, 2022 |
If I consider the US or the European minimum salary, I'd have voted 3 to 4 times the MS. But since I live in Brazil and the local minimum salary is ridiculous (about USD 200), the number os MSs would be a lot larger here.
| | | | Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 03:40
Portuguese to English
+ ...
I do make a few minimum wages in an average month, sometimes a bit more, but this is not much as Brazil is extremely expensive (the cost of petrol and gas have more than doubled) and also has an absurd number of taxes. Rents are also sky-high.
But the big problem is having to wait 30 days for payment. How nice it would be if agencies could pay IMMEDIATELY! Bills don't wait, and neither does your stomach. How to survive if you have to wait 30 days for payment?
By the way, the minimum... See more I do make a few minimum wages in an average month, sometimes a bit more, but this is not much as Brazil is extremely expensive (the cost of petrol and gas have more than doubled) and also has an absurd number of taxes. Rents are also sky-high.
But the big problem is having to wait 30 days for payment. How nice it would be if agencies could pay IMMEDIATELY! Bills don't wait, and neither does your stomach. How to survive if you have to wait 30 days for payment?
By the way, the minimum wage in Brazil is BRL 1200 which is USD 240 a month.
[Edited at 2022-05-10 01:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
Baran Keki wrote:
You probably wouldn't want the taxman to come calling and helping himself to some of that wealth.
Taxmen, Baran. Robbery is best done in groups. 
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 08:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| What minimum? | May 10, 2022 |
I'm not convinced that this question is about the legal minimum wage instead of the average or modal minimum range of salaries. It's not clear, but surely (goes my logic) in English the asker would have used the fixed expression "minimum wage" if she truly meant that. Also the expression "monthly salary" implies not those who receive hourly or daily pay but those with a contract that pays a monthly sum. And does "net" mean only "after taxes" or "after taxes and benefits"? Polls should come wi... See more I'm not convinced that this question is about the legal minimum wage instead of the average or modal minimum range of salaries. It's not clear, but surely (goes my logic) in English the asker would have used the fixed expression "minimum wage" if she truly meant that. Also the expression "monthly salary" implies not those who receive hourly or daily pay but those with a contract that pays a monthly sum. And does "net" mean only "after taxes" or "after taxes and benefits"? Polls should come with a standard extra option "The question is unclear".
FWIW, my average monthly turnover is about the same as my country's modal salary (gross), which is about 1.5 the legal minimum wage.
Rita Utt wrote:
Minimum wage is not a way to judge income in many countries. ... Maybe I should have used a teacher's salary as comparison.
Or, compare it to the average or median salary of your country. (Or multiply it by two and compare it to the average household income of your country.)
Seeing how the minimum wage compares with the average salary in a country is also telling: in both the US and my country, the median monthly salary is about USD 3000, but in the US, the federal minimum wage works out to only USD 1000 per month whereas in my country, the minimum wage works out to nearly USD 2000 per month. This means that while my income is roughly the same in both countries, I earn twice as much more than what a minimum wage labourer earns in the US.
[Edited at 2022-05-10 08:57 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 09:40
Member
English to Turkish
| A Possible Solution to Paul Dixon's Woes | May 10, 2022 |
Paul Dixon wrote:
I do make a few minimum wages in an average month, sometimes a bit more, but this is not much as Brazil is extremely expensive (the cost of petrol and gas have more than doubled) and also has an absurd number of taxes. Rents are also sky-high.
But the big problem is having to wait 30 days for payment. How nice it would be if agencies could pay IMMEDIATELY! Bills don't wait, and neither does your stomach. How to survive if you have to wait 30 days for payment?
By the way, the minimum wage in Brazil is BRL 1200 which is USD 240 a month.
[Edited at 2022-05-10 01:34 GMT]
Paul, I have a solution for you. Once you've implemented this you'll forget about the never-ending economic crisis in Brazil, and in fact you'll forget all about Brazil.
Here it goes: Imagine yourself being a translator in Portugal (not in Brazil), you speak the same language, have the same culture etc. What does Teresa Borges have (apart from her portfolio of apparently good paying clients and decades of experience) that you don't have? She seems to be making close to 3k EUR on a bad month. I'm sure if you started charging 10 cents per word instead of what you deem proper for the conditions in Brazil you'd start making a decent living and taking full advantage of the crisis in Brazil.
Constantly moaning about the crisis in Brazil and revealing such important inside info as the Brazilian minimum wage and how much freelancers are likely making over there on a public forum are not doing you or your colleagues any favors.
| | | | | Well, that's a big snarky | May 10, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote: Paul Dixon wrote:
I do make a few minimum wages in an average month, sometimes a bit more, but this is not much as Brazil is extremely expensive (the cost of petrol and gas have more than doubled) and also has an absurd number of taxes. Rents are also sky-high.
But the big problem is having to wait 30 days for payment. How nice it would be if agencies could pay IMMEDIATELY! Bills don't wait, and neither does your stomach. How to survive if you have to wait 30 days for payment?
By the way, the minimum wage in Brazil is BRL 1200 which is USD 240 a month.
[Edited at 2022-05-10 01:34 GMT] Paul, I have a solution for you. Once you've implemented this you'll forget about the never-ending economic crisis in Brazil, and in fact you'll forget all about Brazil. Here it goes: Imagine yourself being a translator in Portugal (not in Brazil), you speak the same language, have the same culture etc. What does Teresa Borges have (apart from her portfolio of apparently good paying clients and decades of experience) that you don't have? She seems to be making close to 3k EUR on a bad month. I'm sure if you started charging 10 cents per word instead of what you deem proper for the conditions in Brazil you'd start making a decent living and taking full advantage of the crisis in Brazil. Constantly moaning about the crisis in Brazil and revealing such important inside info as the Brazilian minimum wage and how much freelancers are likely making over there on a public forum are not doing you or your colleagues any favors.
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A proz classic is the translator who chides others for not raising their rates, as if it never occurred to them to try, or as if there were some moral imperative to try.
I'm sure he's charging what he's found he can.
And the minimum wage in Brazil, or what translators are generally charging, are, obviously, not "insider information", and no one is being hurt by discussing them.
[Edited at 2022-05-10 07:57 GMT]
| | | | | Stop with the sermonizing | May 10, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote: Vasaporn Chaiyakul wrote:
Translation is a globalized industry. No one needs to adjust their income to the country they're living in. Nor should they accept absurdly low rates from vendors. I wish more colleagues from 'developing countries' had this mindset instead of merely contenting themselves with the living conditions of their own countries (and, doubtless, relishing the prospecting of undercutting their colleagues further -and thereby cramping the style of those who have to work in those unfortunate language pairs in developed countries- as their local currency gets devalued against USD). [Edited at 2022-05-09 19:57 GMT]
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And I wish more colleagues on proz would refrain from telling their colleagues what they should be charging. It's simply condescending and presumptuous.
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