EN
The share of low wage employment in the Federal Republic of Germany has increased significantly during the recent years. Because of considerable disproportions in the size of wages between the western and the eastern Lands it was necessary to introduce two different thresholds of low wages. The conducted studies show that the size of the low wages sector depends on its assumed definition and on the groups of employees included in the study. Its regional differentiation is influenced by numerous factors that are both the consequence of historical happenings and the result of the contemporary transformations taking place within the borders of the united German State.