wage-earner

A wage-earner carefully counts their weekly pay.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who works for wages: "wage-earner" refers to an individual who receives a regular payment (a wage) for their labor, typically in exchange for work performed for an employer. This term emphasizes the financial dependence on earned income, as opposed to income from investments or property.

Usage Examples

• (The factory hires many people who receive hourly or daily wages.)
• (She relies on her earned income from work.)
• (The tax rules favor people who work for a wage over those who earn from capital.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be a wage-earner": to be the primary or sole provider of earned income in a household.

  • After her husband lost his job, she became the sole wage-earner. (She became the only person in the family who works for a wage.)

• "wage-earning population": the segment of society that works for wages.

  • The government's policy aims to support the wage-earning population during economic downturns. (The policy targets people who rely on wages for their livelihood.)

Variants and Related Words

• Wage-earning (adj): relating to or characteristic of a wage-earner.

  • The wage-earning class has seen stagnant income growth. (The social class that works for wages has experienced little increase in pay.)

• Wage (n): a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis, for work or services.

  • He earns a good wage as a mechanic. (He receives a fair payment for his mechanical work.)

• Earner (n): a person who earns money.

  • She is the main earner in their household. (She brings in the largest portion of family income.)

Synonyms

• Employee: a person employed for wages or salary, especially at a non-executive level.
• Worker: a person who does a specified type of work or who works in a specified way.
• Laborer: a person doing unskilled manual work for wages.
• Salaryman: a male white-collar worker who receives a salary (often used in Japanese contexts).

Related Idioms

• "to live from hand to mouth": to have only enough money to cover basic needs, often used for low-wage earners.

  • Many wage-earners in the gig economy live from hand to mouth. (They earn just enough to survive without savings.)

• "to be on the breadline": to be very poor, especially as a wage-earner.

  • With rising costs, even full-time wage-earners can find themselves on the breadline. (They are near the poverty line despite working.)