Taxes on wages hit decade high across OECD countries

Financial Times: Figures published on Wednesday showed a single worker with no children earning an average national wage faced a total tax burden equal to 35.1 per cent of employment costs on average across OECD countries in 2025.

This figure, which includes employee and employer social security contributions as well as income tax and subtracts any cash benefits received by working families, was up from an average of 34.9 per cent in 2024 and the highest level since 2016…

…However, higher labour tax burdens tend to weaken incentives to work and hire by reducing take-home pay and raising employers’ labour costs.

My Opinion: The tax burden has gone down, in some countries, like USA. But there is a surge in inflation. And most OECD countries have increasing tax burdens. UK is one of the hardest hit countries, with the tax burden up by 2.45% to 32.4%. Countries increased spending during the pandemic, and have kept spending elevated since. Now, high spending due to defence and ageing population. Thus the need for higher tax revenues for the government.

Why not increase tax on capital, instead of labour?