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The tax wedge is the share of total labour cost lost to income tax and social security before it reaches the worker. Here's what it measures, why it includes employer contributions, and how to read it.

Employer social-security contributions never appear on your payslip, but they can be the biggest part of the tax wedge. Here's where they're highest, and why they matter for wages and hiring.

American workers face a far lighter tax wedge than most of Europe — but the gap is mostly social security, not income tax, and it isn't uniform. Here's the data.

A country can let you keep most of your gross wage while still having a high tax wedge. Here's why the two measures diverge — and which one you should care about.

In most OECD countries a one-earner family with two children faces a far lower tax wedge than a single worker. Here's where the family discount is biggest — and where it barely exists.

Belgium tops the OECD tax-wedge table at about 53%, while Colombia and Chile sit near the bottom. Here's the full picture of where labour is taxed most — and least.