Luxembourg, 07/08/2000 (Agence Europe) - A joint study carried out by Eurostat and the "DARES" Directorate in the French Ministry for Employment and Solidarity, analyses the low-wages in the European Union countries (except Finland and Sweden where the required data is not presently available). This study, which does not take into account employees working at least 15 hours per week and earning a salary 60% below the national average wage, shows that 15% of employees, or around 16.5 million people, have low-wages. This proportion varies widely from country to country: from 6-7% in Denmark and Portugal to 21% in the United Kingdom. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom show a proportion of worker working less than 30 hours per week noticeably higher than in the countries of southern Europe. On the other hand, Greece has the highest proportion of low remuneration rates. Women represent 77% of low wage workers. The risk of low wages is also greater with young people and with people with a low level of education.