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Breakfast Session: Broadening the Minimum Wage Debate Beyond Employment

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (PDT)

Manchester Grand Hyatt, Harbor E
Hosted By: Labor and Employment Relations Association
  • Chair: Michael Reich, University of California-Berkeley

Does the Minimum Wage Affect Child Maltreatment and Parenting Behaviors? A City-level Analysis

Lindsey Bullinger
,
Georgia Institute of Technology
Kerri Raissian
,
University of Connecticut
Will Schneider
,
Northwestern University

Abstract

Research consistently shows that children living in low-income families, especially children living in poverty, are at a greater risk of child maltreatment. In previous work (Raissian and Bullinger, 2017), we found that increasing the state-level minimum wage leads to fewer reports of child maltreatment. In this paper, we aim to determine if this relationship holds with city and county-level minimum wage ordinances and establish the mechanisms through which minimum wage policies affect children. We combine data from two sources. Aggregate measures of child maltreatment reports from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System: Child File allow us to study how minimum wage laws affect various types of maltreatment (e.g., neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, etc.), the outcome of the report (e.g., substantiated or unsubstantiated), and the age of the child victim. To more comprehensively study minimum wage laws' effects on child maltreatment, we complement these data with individual-level measures of child well-being and parenting behaviors from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. These data help inform the mechanisms through which increases in the minimum wage affects child well-being. For example, does child maltreatment decrease because of a reduction in adverse behaviors, an increase in positive behaviors, or both? This research seeks to probe our earlier study by focusing on more localized minimum wage laws, augmenting the study with individual-level data, and incorporating parenting behaviors that often precede reports to child welfare agencies. This study will provide a more extensive understanding of minimum wages beyond labor and poverty effects.

Can Labor Market Policies Reduce Deaths of Despair?

William H. Dow
,
University of California-Berkeley
Anna Godoy
,
University of California-Berkeley
Christopher Lowenstein
,
University of California-Berkeley
Michael Reich
,
University of California-Berkeley

Abstract

Do minimum wages and the EITC mitigate rising “deaths of despair?” We leverage state variation in these policies over time to estimate difference-in-differences models of drug overdose deaths and suicides. Our causal models find no significant effects on drug-related mortality, but do find significant reductions in non-drug suicides. A 10 percent minimum wage increase reduces non-drug suicides among low-educated adults by 3 percent; the comparable EITC figure is 4.8 percent. Placebo tests and event-study models support our causal research design. Increasing both policies by 10 percent would likely prevent a combined total of more than 1,000 suicides each year.

The Local Aggregate Effects of Minimum Wage Increases

Daniel Cooper
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Maria Luengo-Prado
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Jonathan Parker
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of minimum wage changes on local aggregate economic
outcomes besides employment and wages. Using variation in state-level minimum wages across locations, we find that minimum wage increases have a relatively modest effect on both city-level inflation and spending growth over the years following the change. The effects are larger in industries and locations that employ a large share of low-wage and minimum-wage workers. Increases in minimum wages also lower debt among households with low credit scores, raise auto debt, and appear to increase access to credit.
Discussant(s)
Amelie Petitclerc
,
Northwestern University
Anne Case
,
Princeton University
Josh Bivens
,
Economic Policy Institute
JEL Classifications
  • J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor