Most Germans losing out

The poll findings came as German politicians squabble over the merits of a national minimum wage and over ways to curb perceived excesses in top managers' pay.

The TNS institute, in a survey for Der Spiegel magazine, asked 1 000 people whether they are "benefiting personally from the current economic upswing in Germany."

Of those, 81% replied "no" and only 17% said "yes." Der Spiegel did not give a margin of error for the poll, conducted December 11-12.

Germany has emerged over the past two years from a lengthy period of economic stagnation that pushed up unemployment and prompted Germans to tighten their spending.

Chancellor Angela Merkel declared last month that "the upswing is reaching more and more people." Still, the economic improvement has been accompanied by concern over an uneven distribution of wealth.

The conservative Merkel's coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats, have called for a mandatory minimum wage. The conservatives rejected that, but did go along with the introduction of a de-facto minimum wage for letter carriers.

Labour Minister Olaf Scholz told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that he was confident other industries would be interested in introducing minimum standards.

"The minimum wage is coming, I am sure of that ... for everyone," Scholz was quoted as saying.

TNS asked 1 000 Germans whether they backed a legally fixed minimum wage. It found 75% in favor and only 21% against.

It also found that 83% believe executives at major German companies are overpaid, with only 11 percent arguing that their pay is justified.

Last week, the Social Democrats set up a working group to examine how the transparency of managers' pay could be improved and how large payouts to departing managers could be curbed. Conservatives and business leaders have voiced unease about the idea of imposing legal limits.

- AP