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This article combines the comparative political economy of skill formation literature with the one on growth models to analyse the state's role in skill systems of late industrialising countries. It focuses on Mexico and Turkey, which constitute crucial cases for a most similar case analysis. The article shows that Mexico and Turkey followed different growth models after their economic liberalisation, which led to distinct state roles in two key skill system institutions, namely the minimum wage and the vocational education and training (VET) system. In Mexico, the state aligned these institutions with the 'dependent-downgrading' growth model, which was reliant on external demand and investments with low industrial upgrading and sometimes downgrading, and minimal working-class cohesion. Minimising labour costs was prioritised to attract foreign investment and to reduce the prices of exports, leading to extremely low wages and a liberal VET system in Mexico. In Turkey, the growth model was 'domestic-upgrading' with higher role of domestic investments and demand, and some improvements in industrial upgrading and working-class social cohesion. Ensuring high minimum wage and comprehensive VET system constituted key strategies for the state to maintain this growth model in Turkey, leading to relatively higher minimum wage and a statist VET system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We investigate the dynamics of low pay in Italy from 1990 to 2018 using a large sample of administrative data on private employees. • We find that the incidence of low pay is high and steeply increased in the last decades when the focus is on annual earnings and weekly wages. • A flat trend emerges when low pay is assessed according to FTE weekly wages, even if the share of low-paid workers remains high. • A major role in the low pay dynamics has been played by the reduction in the number of hours worked by low-paid individuals because of the increasing spread of part-time contracts. We investigate the dynamics of incidence, intensity and persistence of low pay in Italy from 1990 to 2018 by exploiting a large administrative sample of employees in the private sector. We refer to relative and absolute low pay thresholds and assess workers' conditions according to annual earnings, weekly wages and full-time-equivalent (FTE) weekly wages, to depurate low pay dynamics from the influence of changes in worked weeks and hours. Regardless of the chosen threshold, we find that the incidence of low pay is high and steeply increased in the last decades when the focus is on annual earnings and weekly wages. A flat trend emerges instead when low pay is assessed according to FTE weekly wages, signalling that a major role in the low pay dynamics is played by the reduction in the number of hours worked by low-paid individuals because of the increasing spread of part-time contracts. Nevertheless, the share of low-paid workers is rather high even when the focus is on FTE weekly wages. Furthermore, low pay is a persistent status for a large and rising share of workers. These findings reveal a clear worsening of workers' conditions at the bottom of the earnings distribution in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has indicated an association between both poverty and income inequality and firearm homicides. Increased minimum wages may serve as a strategy for reducing firearm violence by increasing economic security among workers earning low wages and reducing the number of families living in poverty. This study aimed to examine the association between state minimum wage and firearm homicides in the U.S. between 2000 and 2020. State minimum wage, obtained from Temple's Law Atlas and augmented by legal research, was conceptualized using the Kaitz Index. State-level homicide counts were obtained from 2000 to 2020 multiple-cause-of death mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. Log-linear regressions were conducted to model the associations between state minimum wage and firearm homicides, stratifying by demographic groups. Analyses were conducted in 2023. A 1% point increase in a state's Kaitz Index was associated with a 1.3% (95% CI: −2.1% to −0.5%) decrease in a state's firearm homicide rate. When interacted with quartile of firearm ownership, the Kaitz Index was associated with decreases in firearm homicide in all except the lowest quartile. These findings were largely consistent across stratifications. Changing a state's minimum wage, whereby a full-time minimum wage worker's salary is closer to a state's median income, may be an option for reducing firearm homicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the heterogeneous impacts of minimum wages, which could affect low-income workers’ earnings and employment opportunities, on crime rates across neighboring communities. Using geo-tagged reported crime incident data from 18 major U.S. cities, we find that minimum wage increases reduce violent crime rates notably more in low-income communities than in high-income ones. On average, a one-dollar real minimum wage increase narrows the disparity in quarterly violent crime rates between low- and high-income communities by 12%. The impact varies considerably across different types of cities. The income effect resulting from raising the minimum wage is the main contributing factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Parliament (EP) has historically positioned itself as an advocate of social Europe. Although the EP has been repositioned from an agenda-setter to a co-legislator, increasing polarisation and politicisation have potentially made agreements on social issues more challenging. This article contributes to the debate on increased politicisation within the EP and its consequences for social Europe, as well as literature on politicisation management, by analysing how politicisation manifests itself and is managed during the committee stage of the EP legislative process. The article asks, to what extent is social Europe politicised within the EP during the committee amendment phase, and how is such politicisation managed at the committee level? Empirically, it analyses three recent directives: the Work-Life Balance Directive (2019), the Minimum Wage Directive (2022) and the Pay Transparency Directive (2023). It finds that the considerable politicisation during the amendment phase is managed by separate, yet simultaneously occurring mechanisms of technocratic filtering and normative filtering. This filtering steers the EP towards a stronger position of social Europe than the initial political division and opposition would suggest while aligning this position to the logic and framing of the Commission’s proposal rather than aiming for a radical expansion of the scope of social Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analysed the responses of 995 Year 13 students from across Aotearoa New Zealand regarding the payment of minimum and living wages. In analysing their Likert scale ratings and written responses, we found the majority of these young adults to be clearly in favour of the living wage being adopted universally. Their justifications for this stance centred around themes of survival, justice, wellbeing, economic balance and reciprocity. We assert that the voices of rangatahi have been missing in the consecutive government reviews of the minimum wage, and that listening to these voices will enhance policymaking in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This piece of work evaluates the choices and opportunities opened up in rural labour market through institutional reforms and developmental policies fostering agricultural growth and efficiency in developing countries, with a focus on India. It finds that policy reforms on property rights, involving legal approvals of land ownership or partial possession with rental contracts, strengthen bargaining capacity among marginalized groups. Furthermore, an inclusive development policy encompassing the rural sector shapes labour freedom by stabilization of market at desirable wage and employment rates. Considering a case example from an advanced agricultural region in India, this study reveals a positive and significant relationship between intensity of labour freedom and land‐based status of peasant households. The analysis of primary data suggests that labour market reforms, particularly those focused on wage contracts and minimum wage laws, off‐farm jobs and intra‐migration employment opportunities before labourers, are crucial indicators for enhancing labour freedom in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What were the effects of a 52 per cent increase in the minimum wage in the agricultural sector in South Africa in 2013? We estimate the short run effects of this policy change on the income, employment, and poverty rate of farmworkers, using individual-level panel data from the Quarterly Labour Force Surveys (QLFS). Before the implementation date, 90 per cent of farmworkers were paid below the new minimum wage level. We find that the wage gain of farmworkers is strongly quadratically related to pre-implementation wages, suggesting lower compliance as the gap between the minimum and the pre-implementation wage increases. We estimate that farmworkers received a median wage increase of 9 per cent as a result of the policy, and we find no evidence of job losses. Overall, farmworkers were 7 per cent less likely to have household income per person below the poverty line. One possible explanation for these outcomes is that endogenous compliance may mitigate against unemployment effects. While the minimum wage literature is large, our paper adds to the small subset of this literature on large increases, partial compliance, and poverty effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimum wage (MW) policies are widespread in the developing world and yet their effects are still unclear. In this paper we explore the effect of national MW policies in Latin America's six largest economies by exploiting the heterogeneity in the bite of the national minimum wage across local labor markets and over time. We find evidence that the MW has a compression effect on the wage distribution of formal workers. The effect was particularly large during the 2000s, a decade of sustained growth and strong labor markets. In contrast, the effect seems to vanish in the 2010s, a decade of much weaker labor markets. We also find suggestive evidence of a lighthouse effect: the MW seems to have an equalizing effect also on the wage distribution of informal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether an increase in hourly wages was associated with changes in food security and perceived stress among low-wage workers. We also determined whether changes in food security and stress were associated with changes in diet. Setting: Wages is a prospective cohort study following 974 low-wage workers in Minneapolis, MN, where an ordinance is incrementally increasing minimum wage to US$15/hr from 2018 to 2022, and a comparison community with no minimum wage ordinance (Raleigh, NC). Interaction models were estimated using generalized estimating equations. Participants: Analyses used two waves of data (2018 [baseline], 2019) and included 219 and 321 low-wage workers in Minneapolis and Raleigh (respectively). Results: Average hourly wages increased from US$9.77 (SD US$1.69) to US$11.67 (SD US$4.02). Changes in wages were not associated with changes in food security (odds ratio = 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.89, 1.23], p =.57) or stress (β = −0.01, 95% CI [−0.04, 0.03], p =.70) after 1 year of policy implementation. Changes in food security were not associated with changes in diet. However, we found significant changes in the frequency of fruit and vegetable intake across time by levels of stress, with decreased intake from Wave 1 to 2 at low levels of stress, and increased intake at high levels of stress (incidence rate ratio = 1.17, 95% CI [1.05, 1.31], p =.01). Conclusions: Changes in wages were not associated with changes in food security or stress in a sample of low-wage workers. Future research should examine whether full implementation of a minimum wage increase is associated with changes in these outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definition: The role of labor market institutions and policies has received great attention throughout the history of labor economics. Labor market institutions are responsible for a wide range of policies, regulations, and organizations that affect the labor market, though their impact on employment can vary depending on the specific institutions and the economic context across countries. This entry attempts to provide an overview of five main labor market institutions and policies, i.e., the minimum wage, employment protection, the power of unions, active labor market policies, and unemployment insurance/unemployment benefits. It also presents theoretical expectations of their effects on employment outcomes and collates relevant results from the related literature, focusing mainly on the most recent empirical evidence. Finally, this entry provides insights regarding labor market institutions and offers proposals for shaping the labor market landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent mobilization by living wage movements and unions to raise minimum wages have put the issue of low-wage work at the center of political debates in several countries. To study the position of political parties on this issue, we use electoral manifestos from 18 western democracies from 1990 to 2019. The results show that left-wing parties mention much more often the issue of low-wage work than right-wing parties, especially in countries with a weak degree of corporatism. The different categories of respectively left- and right-wing parties are quite similar in their mentions of low-wage work issues. However, ecologist parties mention low-wage work issues less often than other left parties and radical left parties tend to make broad criticisms of low-wage work more often than center-left parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a scholarly consensus that the perversity rhetoric – the claim that reforms for improving social conditions will worsen the very same conditions – is a myth crafted by the political and economic elites to protect the status quo. This view explains why perversity rhetoric emerges, but it does not explain how it becomes powerful enough to change the course of reform. This study fills this gap by comparing two recent minimum wage reforms, in Japan and South Korea. It argues that the divergence between the two countries in the susceptibility of the reform process to the perversity rhetoric and reform patterns is associated with how governments legitimise the reform. Cognitive legitimation in Japan stressed the apolitical and value-free nature of the reform and allowed industry to modify it, reducing the perversity reactions; however, it made the reform too slow to redress the labour market disparities. Conversely, the moral legitimation of the reform in Korea made the initial progress fast, but the lack of an institutional governing of potential conflicts resulted in the spread of perversity rhetoric across industries and the later reversal of the reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A legislative dispute between the city of St. Louis and the Missouri state government presents a unique opportunity to measure downward wage rigidity in the low-skill labor market. The dispute caused the minimum wage in St. Louis to fall in August 2017 after having risen by 30 percent four months earlier. In this first study of a nominal minimum wage decrease, I evaluate whether firms have a tendency to maintain existing pay levels even when they likely exceed the competitive rate. Analyzing wage trajectories in St. Louis after the minimum wage cut using synthetic controls and a regression analysis, I find that about 3.6 percentage points more workers in the area than we would otherwise expect earn above the statewide minimum wage a year later, and the 5th percentile of wages is about 80 cents higher. Anecdotal evidence is consistent with the interpretation that norms regarding fairness motivated firms to avoid wage cuts. Although I do not observe a decline in hours worked for teenagers or individuals with less than a high school degree, there is some evidence that teenage employment declines. Firms with dynamic expectations regarding a future minimum wage increase may have been particularly willing to maintain higher wages in the near term to avoid paying the costs of taking away a raise they might eventually have to grant anyway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries like India, the majority of the workforce is informal. There is no specific study about the important factors that influence the consumption expenditure of informal workers working in urban areas. The purpose of this paper, thus, is to identify the determinants of the consumption expenditures of urban informal workers, and the same is explored with respect to migration and gender. In this regard, a primary survey was conducted at the household level of the informal sector workers following the method of multi‐stage stratified sampling. The method of analysis of variance and a binary logistic regression model is employed. The inferences of the study explained that the expenditure pattern of the informal worker depends on socio‐economic factors—age group, income level and essential commodities like milk, kerosene, oil and child education. The study also highlights the fact that the informal workers are dragged into the web of a vicious circle of poverty due to a higher level of consumption expenditure than income and demonstrates the effect of betel‐tendu leaf mini cigarette‐tobacco‐alcohol. Hence, it is desirable that the policymakers should frame a regulated subsidised pricing policy for essential commodities as well as increase the minimum wage rate in order to strengthen the basic consumption expenditure of the informal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The most recent World Medicines Situation Report published in 2011 found substantial medicine availability and affordability challenges across WHO regions, including Africa. Since publication of the 2011 report, medicine availability and affordability has risen on the international agenda and was included in the Sustainable Development Goals as Target 3.8. While numerous medicine availability and affordability studies have been conducted in Africa since the last World Medicines Situation Report, there has not been a systematic analysis of the methods used in these studies, measures of medicine availability and affordability, categories of medicines studied, or geographic distribution. Filling this knowledge gap can help inform future medicine availability and affordability studies, design systems to monitor progress toward Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.8 in Africa and beyond, and inform policy and program decisions to improve medicine availability and affordability. Methods: We conducted a systematic scoping review of studies assessing medicine availability or affordability conducted in the WHO Africa region published from 2009–2021. Results: Two hundred forty one articles met our eligibility criteria. 88% of the articles (213/241) reported descriptive studies, while 12% (28/241) reported interventional studies. Of the 198 studies measuring medicine availability, the most commonly used measure of medicine availability was whether a medicine was in stock on the date of a survey (124/198, 63%). We also identified multiple other availability methods and measures, including retrospective stock record reviews and self-reported medicine availability surveys. Of the 59 articles that included affordability measures, 32 (54%) compared the price of the medicine to the daily wage of the lowest paid government worker. Other affordability measures were patient self-reported affordability, capacity to pay measures, and comparing medicines prices with a population-level income standard (such as minimum wage, poverty line, or per capita income). The most commonly studied medicines were antiparasitic and anti-bacterial medicines. We did not identify studies in 22 out of 48 (46%) countries in the WHO Africa Region and more than half of the studies identified were conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and/or Uganda. Conclusion: Our results revealed a wide range of medicine availability and affordability assessment methodologies and measures, including cross-sectional facility surveys, population surveys, and retrospective data analyses. Our review also indicated a need for greater focus on medicines for certain non-communicable diseases, greater geographic diversity of studies, and the need for more intervention studies to identify approaches to improve access to medicines in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: This research aims to identify the characteristics of pregnant women to prevent anemia and stunting in Aceh Besar. METHODOLOGY: This research is an exploratory, descriptive study. Health centres were selected using a basic random sampling technique. The sample of this study involved 80 pregnant women in their third trimester, chosen through purposive sampling. A demographic questionnaire was used for data collection, and univariate analysis was applied to analyze the data. RESULTS: The findings showed that the majority of the selected pregnant women in Aceh Besar Regency had the following characteristics: non-risk age 68(85.0%), housewives 72(90.0%), pregnancy interval more than two years 50(62.5%), primiparous 32(40.0%), monthly income less than the minimum wage 68(85.0%), high school graduates 58 (72.5%), normal middle upper arm circumstance 61(76.3%), and not anemic 50(62.5%). CONCLUSION: Stunting can occur due to several characteristics carried by pregnant women, such as age at risk, anemia status, and the normal upper middle arm condition. Therefore, it is recommended that interventions be developed to improve the nutritional status of pregnant women to reduce the prevalence of stunting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: With rising unemployment in South Africa, new forms of digital work transcend legal conceptions and discourses on work. Uber's digital labour platform (DLP) has the potential to reduce unemployment and improve the livelihoods of South African households. Purpose: We examine the nature of employment through digital platforms to assess how such employment conforms to labour law and regulation in South Africa, the responsibility of the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL). Methods and approach: We review the literature on the gig economy, decent work, and labour relations. We examine Uber DLP in South Africa to assess its potential to create decent work given DEL's current labour regulations. We analyse factors that harm the relationship between Uber DLP and DEL. Findings: Despite numerous constitutional provisions governing DLP and DEL, Uber DLP workers in South Africa are considered independent contractors not entitled to employee benefits. Uber DLP employees in South Africa make less than the national minimum wage after the platform deducts its fees. Few professional drivers own the cars they drive; they rent them from owners, known as "partners," and split the earnings, meaning that the drivers earn very little. Policy implications: DEL needs to establish a balance between flexibility and labour standards. DEL should preserve workers' rights and ensure financial stability in the digital age. Labour laws should be updated based on reliable data while considering the effects of digitally enabled employment on society and the economy. Platform workers need the same protection at work as other workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worker centers, such as the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE), the Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS), the NYC Office of Labor and Policy Standards, the Minneapolis Labor Standards Enforcement Division, and the Chicago Office of Labor Standards, are leading the way in innovative approaches to labor law enforcement. These centers are working with local policies, partnerships with worker justice organizations, and sectoral worker standards boards to strengthen labor standards protections. By collaborating with government agencies, unions, and community organizations, these centers are improving job quality in low-wage sectors and extending employment protections to historically disadvantaged workers. The article highlights successful examples of co-enforcement in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Chicago, and emphasizes the need for a proactive and sector-specific approach to enforcement. It also suggests the establishment of sectoral boards and policies that empower workers and facilitate their participation in enforcing standards. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of enforcement in protecting worker rights and the ongoing efforts to improve labor standards. [Extracted from the article]

The Thirteenth Amendment outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude with one notable exception--those convicted of a crime. Incarcerated workers can, and often are, forced to work for abysmal pay. While the federal amendment has little hope of changing, recent efforts to amend state constitutions to outlaw all forms of involuntary servitude and slavery within particular states offer hope to our nation's incarcerated workers. This Note chronicles those state developments and argues that they will enable incarcerated workers not only to choose whether to work, but also to get paid minimum wage for their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logistics personnel in Chinese universities are facing unbalanced costs and benefit from overloaded work with minimum wages, which impede school development and their well-being. However, the logistics staff population has been neglected in past investigations pertaining to psychological health conditions. The present study aimed to examine the positive well-being, work-related rumination, and work engagement of logistics staff, their correlations, and the factors affecting well-being in 282 Chinese university logistics staff via the Smith Well-being Questionnaire, the Work-Related Rumination Questionnaire, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The results indicated low levels of well-being and high levels of work-related rumination and work engagement among Chinese university logistics staff. The presence of positive attitudes towards life and work and high levels of work engagement predicts enhanced well-being, while the presence of negative characteristics and work-related rumination predicts decreased well-being. In situations where the working hours and work duties are challenging to change, universities can regularly schedule psychological counselling sessions for logistics staff to improve their well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sometimes, subsidiary policies mitigate inflationary problems and try to avoid social protests, maintain or increase confidence in the government. We compare the relationships between wages and inflation for the last three six-year terms in Mexico. For the period 2006-2012 the level of inflation does not determine a salary increase, in 2012-2018, it caused an increase of 4% and since 2018, the increase was 16.4%. Additionally, we estimate the percentage of acceptance of each government, based on inflationary and subsidiary policies, using a logit model. The results show that inflation negatively affected government acceptance by 0.113%, while the salary increase increased it by 0.108%. Regarding each ruler, the acceptance of 79% of the government in turn stands out, being the largest in recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relationship between misperceptions, income positions, and attitudes toward inequality at the supranational level of the EU. Conducting surveys in four EU member states (Germany, Italy, Poland, and Sweden), we confirm that Europeans misperceive their own income position in the EU. Once we account for these misperceptions, we find for all four countries that the lower their income rank, the more citizens assess EU income differences as unjust and are supportive of an EU minimum wage. When we inform a randomized subsample about their misperceived EU income position, those who learn that they are richer than they initially thought assess EU income differences as less unjust. The experiment unveils differences across countries: The general result is driven by respondents in Italy, Poland, and Sweden, whereas information on income misperceptions has opposing effects in Germany. This difference in the treatment reactions of the Germans is very robust and cannot be explained by their identification with the EU, trust in the EU, altruistic motives, political orientation, or socio-demographics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the recovery of the minimum wage starting in 2016 and an increase in the price level post COVID-19, it is necessary to study whether this wage rise has affected inflation according to conventional theory. It is argued that recent inflation is not explained by the minimum wage growth but by the increase in imported material costs. To corroborate our hypothesis, a cointegration vector autoregressive model (CVAR) is estimated for the period 2005-2023. The results show that 1) labor costs have not been the cause of inflationary spirals, and 2) there is room to continue with the salary increase without generating pressures on prices. Therefore, an analytical possibility is to study inflation from a perspective of distributional conflict, including business adjustments through rising prices and profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the challenges and potential benefits of interdisciplinary dialogue between anthropologists and economists. It reflects on a seminar where anthropologists and economists attempted to bridge the gap between their disciplines and highlights the difficulties in understanding each other's language and concepts. The article then focuses on a specific paper presented at the seminar, which examines the impact of a minimum wage increase on poverty reduction in the agricultural sector in South Africa. The paper finds that the wage increase led to significant increases in wages and household incomes, as well as a decline in poverty, challenging the belief that minimum wage increases result in job losses and increased poverty. The authors attribute the success of the wage increase to alternative enforcement mechanisms and the expectations of workers. The article concludes by suggesting that ethnographic research and anthropological perspectives can contribute to economics research and vice versa, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. [Extracted from the article]

The aftermath of the pandemic crisis and the war in Ukraine have revived the debate on the causes and consequences of inflation, as well as the policies needed to combat its effects. Despite the obvious absence of a role for monetary policy in triggering price rises, the response of monetary authorities, especially in the Eurozone, has been conventional: raising interest rates, with negative consequences for activity levels. In this paper we argue that the inflation episode we are witnessing is a consequence of the attempt by profit-makers to maintain the same (if not higher) levels of profitability as before. It is, therefore, a case of conflict inflation. The policies needed to avoid severe consequences for the weakest sections of the population should be aimed at compensating workers against the loss of purchasing power. In this context, Italy is a case study. It is one of the few advanced countries where there is no statutory minimum wage. Considering data from the main studies on the conditions of Italian workers and building our argument on the most recent economic theory, we stress the need for the introduction of a legal minimum wage in Italy and, in general, for upstream redistribution policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, it is aimed to develop a scale for economic justice and to examine its validity and reliability. A total of 838 people participated in this study. The sample group consisted of unemployed, disabled (who are able to work), retired employees, the most disadvantaged people, minimum wage earners and uninsured workers living in different cities in Turkey. SPSS 21 and AMOS 22 programs were applied. Items with a value below 0.50 were not evaluated in the study. A three-factor structure and a 26-item scale were revealed. The correlation number of the candidate scale with the similar scale was 0.902 (p < 0.001). The Cronbach coefficient is 0.938. The test-retest correlation parameter was r = 0.802 (p < 0.001). In summary, the economic justice scale has a good fit criterion, a valid and reliable assessment tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to analyze levels of fatigue and resilience of Brazilian graduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine whether there is an association between fatigue and resilience and sociodemographic and academic factors. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and it was discovered that the variables associated with higher levels of resilience were age; having children; being retired; receiving income above five minimum wages; having had greater problems in other phases of the research schedule; coming from private universities; being from the north of Brazil; studying the area of Health; and having their research schedule unaffected during the pandemic. On the other hand, lack of resilience was associated with not having children; being less well-off financially; being younger; being a woman; studying in a public university; and having to postpone part of the research during the pandemic. The conclusion of the study indicated the need for graduate programs to design strategies to deal with fatigue and promote resilience in Master's and PhD students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of minimum wage increases on employment has been extensively examined with mixed results. We extend the literature by hypothesizing and showing a differential impact of state-level minimum wage increases on nonprofit organizations as opposed to for-profit organizations. While we find that increases in minimum wages reduce employment growth in both types of organizations, this decrease is substantially larger for nonprofit organizations. We also find that investment in automation, that is, information technology, rises in nonprofits postminimum wage increase, consistent with the substitution of capital for labor. Minimum wage increases also increase the likelihood of nonprofit exit. JEL: J38, J68, L [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current study presents results of a midpoint analysis of an ongoing natural experiment evaluating the diet-related effects of the Minneapolis Minimum Wage Ordinance, which incrementally increases the minimum wage to $15/h. Design: A difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis of measures collected among low-wage workers in two U.S. cities (one city with a wage increase policy and one comparison city). Measures included employment-related variables (hourly wage, hours worked and non-employment assessed by survey questions with wages verified by paystubs), BMI measured by study scales and stadiometers and diet-related mediators (food insecurity, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation and daily servings of fruits and vegetables, whole-grain rich foods and foods high in added sugars measured by survey questions). Setting: Minneapolis, Minnesota and Raleigh, North Carolina. Participants: A cohort of 580 low-wage workers (268 in Minneapolis and 312 in Raleigh) who completed three annual study visits between 2018 and 2020. Results: In DiD models adjusted for time-varying and non-time-varying confounders, there were no statistically significant differences in variables of interest in Minneapolis compared with Raleigh. Trends across both cities were evident, showing a steady increase in hourly wage, stable BMI, an overall decrease in food insecurity and non-linear trends in employment, hours worked, SNAP participation and dietary outcomes. Conclusion: There was no evidence of a beneficial or adverse effect of the Minimum Wage Ordinance on health-related variables during a period of economic and social change. The COVID-19 pandemic and other contextual factors likely contributed to the observed trends in both cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achievement of viral load suppression among people living with HIV is one of the most important goals for effective HIV epidemic response. In Ukraine, people who inject drugs (PWID) experience the largest HIV burden. At the same time, this group disproportionally missed out in HIV treatment services. We performed a secondary data analysis of the national-wide cross-sectional bio-behavioral surveillance survey among PWID to assess the population-level prevalence of detectable HIV viremia and identify key characteristics that explain the outcome. Overall, 11.4% of PWID or 52.6% of HIV-positive PWID had a viral load level that exceeded the 1,000 copies/mL threshold. In the group of HIV-positive PWID, the detectable viremia was attributed to younger age, monthly income greater than minimum wage, lower education level, and non-usage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and opioid agonistic therapy. Compared with HIV-negative PWID, the HIV-positive group with detectable viremia was more likely to be female, represented the middle age group (35–49 years old), had low education and monthly income levels, used opioid drugs, practiced risky injection behavior, and had previous incarceration history. Implementing the HIV case identification and ART linkage interventions focused on the most vulnerable PWID sub-groups might help closing the gaps in ART service coverage and increasing the proportion of HIV-positive PWID with viral load suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In high income countries one in five children still lives in poverty, which is known to adversely shape the life course health trajectory of these children. However, much less is understood on whether social and fiscal policies have the capacity to reverse this damage, which intervention is likely to be most effective and when these interventions should be delivered to maximise their impact. This systematic review attempts to address these questions by looking at the impact of income-support interventions, delivered during the first 1,000 days of life, on cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory and mental health outcomes. Methods: The review was restricted to experimental or quasi experimental studies conducted in high income countries. Studies were retrieved from multidisciplinary databases as well as health, economic, social sciences-specific literature browsers. All papers retrieved through the search strategy were double screened at title, abstract and full text stage. Relevant data of the selected studies were extracted and collected in tables, then summarised via narrative synthesis approach. Robustness of findings was assessed by tabulating impact by health outcome, type of intervention and study design. Results: Overall, 16 relevant papers were identified, including 15 quasi-experimental studies and one randomized control trial (RCT). Income-support interventions included were unconditional/conditional cash transfers, income tax credit and minimum wage salary policies. Most studies were conducted in United States and Canada. Overall, the evidence suggested limited effect on mental health indicators but a positive, albeit small, effect of most policies on birth weight outcomes. Despite this, according to few studies that tried to extrapolate the results into public health terms, the potential number of negative outcomes averted might be consistent. Conclusions: Income-support interventions can positively affect some of the health outcomes of interest in this review, including birth weight and mental health. Given the large number of people targeted by these programs, one could infer that – despite small – the observed effect may be still relevant at population level. Nonetheless, the limited generalisability of the evidence gathered hampers firm conclusions. For the future, the breadth and scope of this literature need to be broadened to fully exploit the potential of these interventions and understand how their public health impact can be maximised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers in social sciences increasingly rely on crowdsourcing marketplaces such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and Prolific to facilitate rapid, low-cost data collection from large samples. However, crowdsourcing suffers from high attrition, threatening the validity of crowdsourced studies. Separate studies have demonstrated that (1) higher pay rates and (2) additional instructions–i.e., informing participants about task requirements, asking for personal information, and describing the negative impact of attrition on research quality–can reduce attrition rates with MTurk participants. The present study extended research on these possible remedies for attrition to Prolific, another crowdsourcing marketplace with strict requirements for participant pay. We randomly assigned 225 participants to one of four groups. Across groups, we evaluated effects of pay rates commensurate with or double the US minimum wage, expanding the upper range of this independent variable; two groups also received additional instructions. Higher pay reduced attrition and correlated with more accurate performance on experimental tasks but we observed no effect of additional instructions. Overall, our findings suggest that effects of increased pay on attrition generalize to higher minimum pay rates and across crowdsourcing platforms. In contrast, effects of additional instructions might not generalize across task durations, task types, or crowdsourcing platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages represents a watershed initiative adding substance to the EU's social dimension. It contains two ambitious objectives: establishing the minimum level of statutory minimum wages at 60% of the gross median wage, and increasing collective bargaining coverage (CBC) to at least 80% of workers. In this article, we assess how statutory minimum wages and collective bargaining coverage are associated with the likelihood of low pay. Using a time series cross-section of EU-SILC for income years 2004–2019, we identify and assess the absolute and relative size of 'effective wage floors' for full-time employees in 30 countries. We specify multilevel, random effects within-between regression models to assess the individual and joint associations of SMW and collective bargaining coverage with wage floors. Our results indicate that SMWs and CBC both have distinct roles in establishing the effective wage floor. First, higher collective bargaining coverage is on average associated with a lower share of workers earning below 60% gross median wages. Second, higher SMWs are strongly associated with higher effective wage floors. Third, both collective bargaining coverage and union density are strongly associated with higher wage floors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indonesia is a rapidly growing lower-middle-income country (LMIC) located in Southeast Asia. It has 267.3 million inhabitants, with 31.6% (84.4 million) children. According to GLOBOCAN 2020, Indonesia had the highest prevalence of pediatric cancer cases in Southeast Asia (43.5%), and brain tumors had the third-highest incidence in Indonesia. Treating children with brain tumors with radiotherapy is challenging, especially the late treatment effects that can affect their quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to show the QoL in children with brain tumors after radiotherapy in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia, based on PedsQL™ 4.0 generic core scale and the possible affecting factors. In this cross-sectional study, 26 of 88 children with brain tumors after radiotherapy were assessed by the PedsQL™ 4.0 generic core scale. Of the 88 patients who had brain tumor radiotherapy in 2014–2019, 31 patients were lost to follow-up, 28 were confirmed dead, and 29 were assured alive. One-year, three-year, and five-year overall survival were 71.6%, 43.2%, and 5.7%, respectively. The mean of children's QoL was 70.686 and 70.152 based on child self-report and parent proxy-report. Family income > 290 USD (regional minimum wage) was a factor that improved the QoL in children with brain tumors after radiotherapy (p = 0.008). QoL in children with brain tumors after radiotherapy could be influenced by family income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the 100% increase in the minimum wage in the northern border area of Mexico in 2019 and its total, gender, and sector effects on employment and wages. Based on data from the National Occupation and Employment Survey, differences-in-differences and event study design models are estimated to calculate the average and dynamic effects of the policy. The results show that the increase in the minimum wage did not statistically affect the probability of participating in the labor market or of being employed; however, among salaried workers, it did increase the probability of working in the formal sector by 1.38 percentage points, where this effect rises to 2.34 percentage points among women and was non-significant among men. Concerning the mean hourly wage, an increase of 3.27% was observed in formal salaried workers and of 3.56% among women, while no signifi- cant effects were found within informal salaried workers and men. Along the wage distribution, positive average effects were observed for formal wage earners up to the 50th quantile and among informal wage earners up to the 25th quantile. The increase in the minimum wage affected positively and to a greater extent women and low-wage workers. Moreover, since the wage increase was accompanied by other economic policies that appear to have reduced inflation, the results can be interpreted as an upper bound of the positive effects of the minimum wage in crease and in the absence of the other policies, or contexts where only the wage increase occurred, its effects on wages could have been smaller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On July 23, 2014, the fiftieth anniversary of Disney's Mary Poppins, Funny or Die released a video titled, "Mary Poppins Quits with Kristen Bell," earning more than 4 million views. In the video, Mary Poppins sings to the tune of "A Spoonful of Sugar" while calling for an increase to the federal minimum wage. Understanding fan-based citizenship performances like "Mary Poppins Quits" requires understanding how affect moves between popular culture, fans, and citizens. I argue that Mary Poppins functions as a figure that conducts affect across and between fan-citizens, calling on fans to treat minimum wage workers through the same affective orientation with which they treat Mary Poppins. To make this argument, I draw on work in fan studies and rhetorical studies to define fannish affect and public affect. Turning to my analysis of the "Mary Poppins Quits" video, I argue the video conducts affect through celebrity personae, destabilizes the "worthiness" discourse that often frames minimum wage workers as unworthy of a higher wage, and demands new orientations to one's fellow citizens. Ultimately, I argue that moving affect from popular culture objects to the public sphere opens up new opportunities for solidarity but carries limitations as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The minimum wage in the Republic of Serbia is determined on the basis of the minimum wage determined in accordance with the Labour Law, working hours and taxes and contributions paid from wages. The minimum wage should be the minimum amount of money, which should enable employees to meet basic living needs. Unfortunately, its amount in practice is often not enough to provide for the basic living needs of employees and their family members. The employer should pay the minimum wage when, due to business disruption, he is unable to pay a wage that would be higher than it, ie. it should be an extraordinary phenomenon in the world of labor and capital. However, the minimum wage is becoming the rule of payment for employees in many industries in the Republic of Serbia. One of the question related to the miniimum wage is whether it can be considered in accordance with the Decisions of the Government and the Socio-Economic Council as the net amount paid for the employment of all persons per hour, regardless of the legal basis of their work. This statement is suported by the used legal definition of minimum labour cost. For example, working under a contract on temporary and periodical jobs is the same as any other kind of work, even though work is conducted outside of employment relationship. According to the Law on Contributions for Complulsory Social Insurance, work within the employment relationship and work on the basis of contracts on temporary and periodical jobs are viewed equally from the perspective of contributions paid on wages. In the light of international labour standards, according to the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention No. 131 of the International Labour Organization, each member of the International Labour Organization which ratifies this Convention undertakes to establish a system of minimum wages which covers all groups of wage earners whose terms of employment are such that coverage would be appropriate. Since the Republic of Serbia has ratified this Convention, it directly applies to all groups of workers, including those hired on the basis of contracts for temporary and occasional work. Regarding the civil service system, the Law on Salaries in State Bodies and Public Servicies stipulates that the coefficient on the basis of which the basic salary of employees in state bodies and public services is determined expresses the complexity of work, responsibility, working conditions and education. The coefficient also contains an allowance in the name of compensation for food during work and recourse for the use of annual leave. The practical question arose as to whether employees who are paid the minimum wage in the general regime of labour relations are entitled to a suplement in the name of compensation for food during work and recourse for the use of annual leave, ie. whether the minimum wage in the Republic of Serbia should include these allowances. The authors will analyze the issues raised in the previous parts of the text, but also other issues related to the minimum wage and present views for their solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When adjusted to reflect inflation, the federal minimum wage is almost 40 percent lower than it was in 1970. The Biden Administration tried and failed to legislatively raise the minimum wage, and political deadlock will continue to kill legislative change. The shareholder proposal, a nonbinding recommendation to management that shareholders can submit for a vote at a public corporation’s annual meeting, presents a path for improving the wages of many workers in the absence of federal legislation. This Note analyzes the best approach to crafting a shareholder proposal on minimum wage that will prompt an effective increase in the minimum wages paid to workers. It evaluates the barriers to success and concludes that the right team of actors can overcome the barriers to raise the minimum wages paid to workers at large corporations through shareholder proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Where the union was expected to pay a $40-an-hour package to its workers, the nonunion firms paid half as much and, moreover, cheated on overtime to an appalling extent. Minimum wage, wage theft, neoliberalism, immigrant workers, cash-pay, trade unions, labor, industry, capitalism Cash-Pay May Not Be the Answer On both the side of the employer and the worker, cash-pay bears risks and benefits. Keywords: minimum wage; wage theft; neoliberalism; immigrant workers; cash-pay; trade unions; labor; industry; capitalism EN minimum wage wage theft neoliberalism immigrant workers cash-pay trade unions labor industry capitalism 26 33 8 09/11/23 20230901 NES 230901 Graph: Press conference by Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy on wage theft. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the role of ballot initiatives in U.S. labor policy, referencing a ballot initiative about platform workers in California. Topics discussed include the AB5 bill which aims to extend employee status to independent contractors in California, the Proposition 22 initiative supported by Uber and other platforms to protect themselves from AB5, and other labor protective ballot initiatives in the U.S. on several issues including minimum wages, union organizing and worker safety.

Resumen: La relación entre la actividad sindical y la creciente desigualdad de ingresos observada en las economías avanzadas, a pesar de su ambigüedad teórica, se ha pasado por alto en los estudios empíricos. En este artículo se estima un modelo empírico para 26 países europeos entre 2005 y 2018, especificando la desigualdad de ingresos como una función de la tasa de densidad sindical, su valor al cuadrado y un conjunto de variables de control. El modelo se amplía con la inclusión de otras instituciones del mercado de trabajo para evaluar los efectos distributivos de la densidad sindical en toda la estructura institucional. Se observa una relación significativa y persistente, en forma de U invertida, entre densidad sindical y desigualdad de ingresos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen: El salario mínimo ha sido una cuestión controvertida desde que se in‐trodujo en la legislación de Australia, los Estados Unidos y el Reino Unido a principios del siglo XX. Los defensores del salario mínimo justifican la intervención estatal basándose en principios de equidad y bien social, mientras que sus detractores se amparan en la teoría del mercado. En este artículo se examina la influencia de estas dos posiciones ideológicas en la fijación de los salarios, y los consiguientes resultados de una y otra. El objetivo es colmar la falta de estudios comparativos sobre los orígenes, la evolución y los actuales sistemas de reglamentación del salario mínimo en los tres países. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty is a condition when a person lives below the poverty line and is unable to meet his basic needs. Poverty is one of the economic and social problems that is difficult to overcome. Province of D.I. Yogyakarta is the province with the highest poverty on the island of Java and ranks 11th out of 34 of the poorest provinces in Indonesia in 2021. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the minimum wage and per capita expenditure on poverty in the district/cities of the province of D.I. Yogyakarta with the chosen model, namely the Random Effect Model (REM). The data used in this study are panel data for 2013-2021, the data analysis technique used is multiple linear regression with the Generalized Least Square (GLS) method with eviews 12. The results show that simultaneously the minimum wage and per capita expenditure have an effect towards poverty in the district/cities of the Province of D.I Yogyakarta. The results of the study also prove that partially the minimum wage does not have a significant effect on poverty, and per capita expenditure has a significant negative effect on poverty, which means that an increase in per capita expenditure will reduce poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to small firm sizes and inter-linkages between household and business finances, small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries are inherently vulnerable to temporary and permanent income shortfalls, and hence household poverty. While the International Labour Organisation (ILO) generally defines self-employment without employees as vulnerable employment, little empirical research has been done on the extent to which the self-employed are indeed vulnerable. This paper makes two main contributions: first, it operationalises the concept of vulnerability in the context of self-employment in developing countries by defining vulnerability as the risk of having business income below a living wage threshold. Secondly, it investigates the extent and correlates of vulnerability. Using a six-year balanced entrepreneur panel dataset from Kampala, Uganda, it is shown that the self-employed are heterogeneous with respect to vulnerability and observed earnings: 58–74% of the samples are classified as vulnerable in a given year and mostly earn incomes below the living wage threshold. Vulnerable entrepreneurs are shown to be significantly different from non-vulnerable entrepreneurs in several dimensions, including those that do not directly predict income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]