Minimum Wage (Page 8 )

  • What’s Best At Reducing Poverty? An Examination of the Effectiveness of the 2007 Minimum Wage Increase

    March 2010 ·  John P. Formby - University of Alabama, John A. Bishop - East Carolina University, Hoseong Kim - University of Alabama · 

    On July 24th, 2009, the federal minimum was raised to $7.25 an hour. This was the last of three 70-cent increases which began in July 2007, and were mandated by the Fair Minimum Wage Act (FMWA) of 2007. In an op-ed published that same day, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis praised the increase for helping “put between 3 million and 5 million Americans a step closer to…
  • Impact of Minimum Wage Indexing on Employment and Wages: Evidence from Oregon and Washington

    April 2009 ·  Eric Fruits, Ph.D., - Economics International Corp. · 

    Minimum wage increases are a hot-button issue in many states. On the one hand, the minimum wage is often cited as a textbook example of how price floors create surpluses in which too many workers chase too few jobs, especially among those applicants with the fewest skills. On the other hand, proponents of raising the minimum wage suggest that increases are virtually painless. Because minimum wage increases…
  • Indexing the Minimum Wage: A Vise on Entry-Level Wages

    April 2009 ·  Employment Policies Institute · 

    Policies that index the minimum wage to inflation are becoming politically popular. Whether enacted through ballot initiatives or added as provisions on traditional minimum wage proposals, advocates have stepped up their efforts in recent years to tie wage hikes to specific economic indicators, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). President Barack Obama’s proposals to combat poverty include mandating a $9.50 minimum wage by 2011 and indexing…
  • Minimum Wages and Poverty: Will the Obama Proposal Help the Working Poor?

    October 2008 ·  Joseph J. Sabia - University of Georgia, Richard V. Burkhauser - Cornell University · 

    As this year’s economic crisis hit everyone’s pocketbooks, some advocates called for another increase in the federal minimum wage. Existing proposals—including presidential candidate Barack Obama’s “poverty” strategy and legislation introduced by Senate leaders late last year—would enact a minimum wage of $9.50 an hour and mandate annual indexing to inflation. Even economists who support minimum wage hikes acknowledge that there is a tipping point at which the…
  • The Employment and Distributional Effects of Minimum Wage Increases: A Case Study of the State of New York

    September 2008 ·  Joseph J. Sabia - American University, Richard V. Burkhauser - Cornell University  · 

    In June 2007, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proposed legislation to raise the state minimum wage from $7.15 to $8.25 per hour, and to index it to inflation thereafter. Proponents argue that such minimum wage increases have no negative employment effects (Card and Krueger, 1995; Dube et al., 2008) and will be effective in aiding poor workers,[1] while opponents emphasize the minimum wage’s poor target…
  • Examining Effects of Minimum Wages on Single Mothers’ Exits from Welfare

    July 2008 ·  Peter D. Brandon - Brown University · 

    The primary aim of minimum wage policies is to enable individuals and families to achieve economic security and independence without recourse to government assistance (Brown at al. 1982, 1983; Ellwood 1988). Although minimum wage policies aim to raise the living standards of workers, most economic studies based upon standard models of labor demand and supply show that such wage gains are trumped by higher levels of disemployment…