Meanings
comparative more pay-neutral · superlative most pay-neutral
- uncommonLeaving no significant net income to sustain the household; only covering childcare costs, travel, and other expenses.First known use late 2000s
But the rise and rise of the ‘pay neutral’ job - where there’s nothing left even of a decent salary, once the nursery standing order goes out - is finally becoming a hot political potato.
2012 October 9, Gaby Hinsliff, “Can Cameron curb soaring childcare costs to win over women?”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 24 Apr 20245 more examples
Certain neoclassical authors consider severance pay "neutral" because the employee can always be made to pay a deposit at the beginning of the wage relation which can be used as severance pay later on.
2008, Revue française de sociologie, volume 48, page 106If implementing PM can be pay neutral, then isn't it just another way of getting people to work more without paying them more, a latter-day version of the Fame that Wwe have been playing all along? Absolutely not.
2010, Jack Walters, Positive Management: Increasing Employee Productivity, Business Expert Press, page 13When it comes to single parents, the situation is even worse. Many professional women find themselves in this "pay-neutral" position, as they're often forced to take lower-paid part-time jobs to fit around their children.
2012 September 1, Joanne O'Connell, “Soaring childcare costs see parents working for nothing”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2024The cost of childcare in Northern Ireland is leaving parents 'pay neutral', with a single parent spending on average 44 per cent of their weekly income on daycare for one child, according to a new report.
2012 November 28, Katy Morton, “New report questions whether work pays for parents in Northern Ireland”, in Nursery World, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2024And a 2013 Family Finances report from insurer Aviva found childcare costs and cuts to benefits have led to more people in "pay-neutral" work – where childcare and travel costs wipe out earnings. Many single parents are forced to take part-time jobs to fit around their children.
2014 January 11, Harriet Meyer, “Childcare costs soar by 19% in just one year – survey”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2024
Cite this entry
pay-neutral. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay-neutral
“pay-neutral.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay-neutral. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pay-neutral,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay-neutral.
Source: pay-neutral on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.