Fast-food workers in Denmark make $20 an hour

The base wage for fast food workers throughout Denmark is $20 an hour, two and a half times what many fast-food workers earn in the United States, according to the New York Times.

American economists and business groups say the comparison is flawed is due to Denmark's high living costs and taxes. The New York Times reports the cost of living in Denmark is 30 percent higher than in the U.S.

Denmark has no minimum wage law, according to the New York Times, but $20 an hour is the lowest the fast food industry can pay under an agreement between Denmark's 3F union and the Danish employers group Horesta, which includes Burger King, McDonald's, Starbucks and others.

In Denmark, fast-food workers are also guaranteed benefits. Under the industry's collective agreement, there are five weeks paid vacation, paid maternity and paternity leave and a pension plan. Workers must be paid overtime for working after 6 p.m. and on Sundays.

According to a study from the University of California, Berkeley, fast food wages in the U.S. are so low that half of the nation's fast-food workers rely on some sort of public assistance.

In Denmark, a Big Mac costs $5.60 compared with $4.80 in the U.S., according to the New York Times.

Read more from the New York Times.