Ghana’s minimum wage framework is failing workers as a widening earnings divide between public and private sector employees pushes more households toward a survival economy, a new cost of living report has found.
Smart Sarpong, Director of Research and Innovation at Kumasi Technical University, told the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday that the current framework is structurally misaligned with the actual cost of maintaining a household in Ghana. The National Tripartite Committee (NTC) raised Ghana’s daily minimum wage by 9% to GH¢21.77 at the start of 2026, equivalent to roughly GH¢653 per month. Researchers estimate a single adult requires approximately GH¢3,000 per month to meet basic needs with dignity.
“The current minimum wage cannot sustain basic living expenses,” Sarpong said.
The report identifies a compounding disparity between public and private sector wages, with state employees frequently earning two to three times what private sector counterparts take home for equivalent roles. A trained teacher or nurse employed outside the public system may receive substantially less pay than a colleague with identical qualifications working within it. Sarpong described the gap as structural rather than incidental, and warned it is placing private sector workers at a severe and growing disadvantage.
The research also documents a measurable shift in how households are managing income shortfalls. A rising proportion of workers are supplementing primary employment with informal or secondary activities simply to cover recurring expenses. Sarpong noted that the trend carries a productivity cost the economy has yet to fully account for, as divided working time weakens output and institutional continuity across sectors.
Savings capacity has deteriorated in parallel. The study found only a small share of households can set aside money consistently, with most operating paycheck to paycheck in a financial environment where one disruption can erase months of stability.
Sarpong called on government to consider a coordinated policy response, covering incentives to lift private sector wages, adjustments to the tax treatment of lower earners, and targeted intervention in the sectors placing the greatest pressure on household budgets. He framed the transition from a minimum wage to a living wage model as an economic necessity rather than an aspirational goal, arguing that the longer wages remain disconnected from real costs, the more entrenched the pressures on ordinary households will become.
