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Minimum wages and the economic well-being of single mothers

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  • Joseph J. Sabia

    (Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration and Policy, American University)

Abstract

Using pooled cross-sectional data from the 1992 to 2005 March Current Population Survey (CPS), this study examines the relationship between minimum wage increases and the economic well-being of single mothers. Estimation results show that minimum wage increases were ineffective at reducing poverty among single mothers. Most working single mothers were not affected by minimum wage hikes because they already earned wages above state and federal minimum wages. And less-educated single mothers who were affected did not see a rise in net income because of negative employment and hours effects. For this low-skilled population, a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage was associated with an 8.8 percent reduction in employment and an 11.8 percent reduction in annual hours worked. © 2008 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management

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  • Joseph J. Sabia, 2008. "Minimum wages and the economic well-being of single mothers," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 848-866.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:27:y:2008:i:4:p:848-866
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.20379
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    1. The Minimum Wage: Facts vs. Fiction
      by Patrick Brennan in The Corner on 2014-01-30 23:49:06

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    1. Anna Godøy & Michael Reich & Jesse Wursten & Sylvia Allegretto, 2024. "Parental Labor Supply: Evidence from Minimum Wage Changes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(2), pages 416-442.
    2. Joseph J. Sabia & Richard V. Burkhauser & Benjamin Hansen, 2012. "Are the Effects of Minimum Wage Increases Always Small? New Evidence from a Case Study of New York State," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(2), pages 350-376, April.
    3. Brandyn F. Churchill & Joseph J. Sabia, 2019. "The Effects of Minimum Wages on Low‐Skilled Immigrants’ Wages, Employment, and Poverty," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 275-314, April.
    4. Richard Gearhart & Lyudmyla Sonchak-Ardan & Raphael Thibault, 2023. "The impact of minimum wage on parental time allocation to children: evidence from the American Time Use Survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1019-1042, September.
    5. Dale Belman & Paul Wolfson & Kritkorn Nawakitphaitoon, 2015. "Who Is Affected by the Minimum Wage?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 582-621, October.
    6. Arindrajit Dube, 2019. "Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Family Incomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 268-304, October.
    7. Sotomayor, Orlando J., 2021. "Can the minimum wage reduce poverty and inequality in the developing world? Evidence from Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    8. Grishina, E. & Kuznetsova, P., 2018. "Minimum Wage as a Tool to Reduce Poverty: Expected Consequences of the Reform," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 137-156.
    9. Alexandros Karakitsios & Manos Matsaganis, 2018. "Minimum Wage Effects on Poverty and Inequality," DEOS Working Papers 1801, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    10. Nidhiya Menon & Yana van der Meulen Rodgers, 2017. "The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Male and Female Employment and Earnings in India," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 34(1), pages 28-64, March.
    11. McKinnish, Terra, 2017. "Cross-state differences in the minimum wage and out-of-state commuting by low-wage workers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 137-147.
    12. Backhaus, Teresa & Müller, Kai-Uwe, 2019. "Does the German minimum wage benefit low income households?," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203585, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. George L. Wehby & Dhaval M. Dave & Robert Kaestner, 2020. "Effects of the Minimum Wage on Infant Health," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 411-443, March.
    14. Taryn W. Morrissey, 2023. "The minimum wage and parent time use," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1043-1062, September.
    15. Gennetian, Lisa A. & Castells, Nina & Morris, Pamela A., 2010. "Meeting the basic needs of children: Does income matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1138-1148, September.
    16. Allison Dwyer Emory & Daniel P. Miller & Lenna Nepomnyaschy & Maureen R. Waller & Alexandra Haralampoudis, 2020. "The Minimum Wage and Fathers’ Residence with Children," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 472-491, September.
    17. David Neumark & Peter Shirley, 2022. "Myth or measurement: What does the new minimum wage research say about minimum wages and job loss in the United States?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 384-417, October.
    18. Christine Ho, 2014. "Welfare-to-Work Reform and Intergenerational Support: Grandmothers’ Response to the 1996 PRWORA," Working Papers 12-2014, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.
    19. David Neumark, 2016. "Policy levers to increase jobs and increase income from work after the Great Recession," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-38, December.
    20. Arpaia, Alfonso & Cardoso, Pedro & Kiss, Aron & Van Herck, Kristine & Vandeplas, Anneleen, 2017. "Statutory Minimum Wages in the EU: Institutional Settings and Macroeconomic Implications," IZA Policy Papers 124, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Sergey Kapelyuk, 2015. "The effect of minimum wage on poverty," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 23(2), pages 389-423, April.
    22. Godoey, Anna & Reich, Michael & Allegretto, Sylvia, 2019. "Parental Labor Supply: Evidence from Minimum Wage Changes. Working Paper #103-19," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt1f66h44t, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    23. Teresa Backhaus & Kai-Uwe Müller, 2019. "Does the German Minimum Wage Help Low Income Households?: Evidence from Observed Outcomes and the Simulation of Potential Effects," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1805, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    24. Romich, Jennifer L. & Althauser, Anne K. & Allard, Scott William & Long, Mark C. & Vigdor, Jacob, 2018. "Linking Administrative Data to Understand Effects of Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage Ordinance," OSF Preprints egvwq, Center for Open Science.
    25. Kapelyuk Sergey, 2014. "Impact of minimum wage on income distribution and poverty in Russia," EERC Working Paper Series 14/03e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.

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