EPI Research (Page 10 )

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  Indexing the Minimum Wage: A Vise on Entry-Level Wages

  April 2009

  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…

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  Minimum Wages and Poverty: Will the Obama Proposal Help the Working Poor?

  October 2008

  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…

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  The Employment and Distributional Effects of Minimum Wage Increases: A Case Study of the State of New York

  September 2008

  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…

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  Examining Effects of Minimum Wages on Single Mothers’ Exits from Welfare

  July 2008

  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…

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  Good Intentions Are Not Enough: Why Raising New York’s Minimum Wage Continues to be a Poor Way to Help the Working Poor

  January 2008

  This study shows that the proposed New York State minimum wage hike is an ineffective method of targeting those who need help the most. The study shows that nearly 50% of those who benefit from minimum wage hikes live in households earning at least three times the poverty level income and the majority of those affected are the 2nd or 3rd earner in their family.

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  Helping Low-wage Americans: The Earned Income Tax Credit

  September 2007

  The unemployment rates for demographic
  groups such as teens and minorities are consistently
  in double digits. Millions of potential
  entry-level employees aren’t even counted in
  these figures because they have given up hope
  and stopped looking for work. Yet newspapers
  all over the country advertise jobs paying $10 an
  hour or more. Many practically beg for applicants.
  …