In Denmark we don't have a law about what the lowest wage has to be, but several work-unions have come up with general rules for what is acceptable and they enforce them through trials/lawsuits (so even if the government hasn't put down a law it's still a legal practice) and we are currently at an average minimum wage of 110kr /an hour (roughly 16,4 dollars /an hour) across all types of work fields.
Of course, this only applies if you are 18+ in age. The moment you are under 18 the minimum hourly wage gets cut in half which is 55kr /an hour (8,2 dollars /an hour).
Also bear in mind that you need to pay taxes before you get your pay; 110kr - 47% = 58,3kr (8,70$ /hr) for those above 18 y.o and then 55kr - 47% = 29,15kr (4,35$ /hr) for those below 18 y.o.
EDIT!
- These numbers are including taxes that differ between 35%-41% depending on the region you live in and on top of this we have an additional 8% that goes to the Labor Market Contribution.
Quick math!
- In my region, the tax is 39% and the LMC (Labor Market Contribution) is still 8%
- That is 39% + 8% = 47% IN TAXES ALONE
- Now if I want to earn 10$ on a commission I have to apply 47% on top of the base price to make up for the loss I have to pay the government as a freelancer (which is, sadly, the 47%). This is 10$ + 47% = 14,7$ total.
In the smaller numbers, it doesn't look all that bad, but it gets aggressively worse the higher up in prices you go.
20$ + 47% = 29,4$
50$ + 47% = 73,5$
100$ + 47% = 147$
200$ + 47% = 294$
I hope this little extra info will help some ppl understand why prices sometimes seem outrageous and unfair, cuz, trust me when I say this... I. HATE. THESE, NUMBERS! but I can nothing about it.