Love, work and taxes: How tax systems shape our choices

There’s a particular moment, familiar to almost everyone who receives a payslip, when optimism meets reality. You see your gross salary – that encouraging number at the top – and then your eyes begin the slow downward journey. Line by line, contribution by contribution, acronym by acronym, that number starts to shrink.

In this episode of Behind the Numbers, our host Ashley Ward is joined by Alexander Pick and Edoardo Magalini from the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration to unpack Taxing Wages, the OECD’s flagship report on labour taxation.

The episode explains the “tax wedge” – the gap between an employer’s total cost of hiring and an employee’s net take-home pay – and explores what the 2026 edition reveals about taxes, social contributions and benefits across OECD countries. It also looks at why household circumstances matter, including how tax systems can influence the choices couples make about whether both partners work, how much they work and how they balance paid work with family responsibilities.

Host:

Ashley Ward, Director’s Office Advisor and Communications Manager (OECD Statistics and Data Directorate)

Guests:

o Alexander Pick, Head of Tax Data and Statistical Analysis (OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration)

o Edoardo Magalini, Tax Policy Analyst (OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration)

To learn more about this policy area, go to https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/taxing-wages-2026_3a5169ef-en.html

To learn more about the OECD, our global reach, and how to join us, go to www.oecd.org/about/

To keep up with latest at the OECD, visit www.oecd.org/

Get the latest OECD content delivered directly to your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletters: www.oecd.org/newsletters