The Council of Europe's Social Charter initially defined the decency threshold in the 1960s as 68% of average earnings within a national economy . These articles of the Social Charter have since changed to that of 60% of net earnings (as of July 2004) which is in real terms a significant reduction as women, on average, earn a lot less than men.

Pressure groups typically use the original method of calculation to call for a higher minimum wage. The Low Pay Unit have been calling for a minimum wage of half male median earnings, rising to 2/3 over the next few years.