Description
There is a particular moment, familiar to almost everyone who receives a payslip, when optimism meets reality. You see your gross salary – that encouraging number at the top – and then your eyes begin the slow downward journey. Line by line, contribution by contribution, acronym by acronym, that number starts to shrink.
In this episode of Behind the Numbers, our host Ashley Ward is joined by Alexander Pick and Edoardo Magalini from the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration to unpack Taxing Wages, the OECD’s flagship report on labour taxation.
The episode explains the “tax wedge” – the gap between an employer’s total cost of hiring and an employee’s net take-home pay – and explores what the 2026 edition reveals about taxes, social contributions and benefits across OECD countries. It also looks at why household circumstances matter, including how tax systems can influence the choices couples make about whether both partners work, how much they work and how they balance paid work with family responsibilities.
Host: Ashley Ward
Guests: Alexander Pick and Edoardo Magalini
