starvation wages

plural noun

1. wages below the level necessary for subsistence.

Word History and Origins

Origin of starvation wages¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

He is an under-paid drudge in a retail grocery, on starvation wages.

From Project Gutenberg

Doubtless the editor abjured linen shirt-bosoms because the poor Irishwomen who bleach the flax are paid starvation wages.

From Project Gutenberg

He gets everything from the labour of the poor; while they are forced to starvation wages by the raising of rents.

From Project Gutenberg

How could a farmer expect his men to work well if they were paid starvation wages?

From Project Gutenberg

The base employment degraded them,—the starvation wages demoralized them.

From Project Gutenberg