Should MPs get a salary hike? Here is what other major countries do

They are paid less than elected representatives in other major nations

As he prepared to fight Germany in the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had on his mind overdue bills from “not just the shirt-maker, but the watchmaker, the wine merchants, and the printers as well”. Rather than his salary as a lawmaker, the sale of his writings and bailouts from rich friends kept him afloat, and also invited accusations of quid pro quo.

India’s members of Parliament (MPs) – a new one will convene soon – are paid less than peers in advanced as well as emerging market countries, according a Business Standard analysis of data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The analysis looked at the seven largest economies and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries. The salary amounts are on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, which means that they are adjusted for country-wise differences in cost of living.

The basic salary of a parliamentarian in Brazil and South Africa is three times more than that of their Indian counterpart. Indian MPs make less than large economy peers as well (chart 1, click image for interactive link).

Every representative in France has roughly around 70,000 inhabitants for whom she is responsible. It is over 600,000 in the United States. China has nearly 3,000 MPs with a similar population and each individual MP caters to less than 0.5 million people. Indian MPs cater to 1.8 million (chart 2).

The number of hours worked is available for 2022 and 2021, a year affected by the pandemic. India’s hours were lower than most (chart 3).

Some research has suggested that higher pay increases political competition and improves MPs’ performance. The profile of potential candidates also improves with more educated and white-collar professionals entering politics.

“In addition to this positive selection, we find that wages also affect politicians’ performance, which is consistent with a behavioral response to a higher value of holding office,” said a 2009 study, ‘Motivating Politicians: The Impacts of Monetary Incentives on Quality and Performance’ from authors Claudio Ferraz of Brazil’s Pontifical Catholic University of Rio and Frederico Finan of University of California in Los Angeles.

The average assets of re-contesting MPs was up 43 per cent in 2024 to reach Rs 21.55 crore. More than 500 of the 543 MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha have assets of at least Rs 1 crore each. 

Churchill is said to have got an annual salary of £10,000 during the war. British MPs got a 5.5 per cent pay hike effective April 2024, taking their pay to £91,346.