1. The impact of the minimum wage on health.
- Author
-
Andreyeva E and Ukert B
- Subjects
- Adult, Age Factors, Alcohol Drinking epidemiology, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Body Mass Index, Diet, Humans, Middle Aged, Models, Economic, Obesity epidemiology, Smoking epidemiology, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Health Behavior, Health Services Accessibility statistics & numerical data, Health Status, Income statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
This study evaluates the effect of minimum wage on risky health behaviors, healthcare access, and self-reported health. We use data from the 1993-2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and employ a difference-in-differences strategy that utilizes time variation in new minimum wage laws across U.S. states. Results suggest that the minimum wage increases the probability of being obese and decreases daily fruit and vegetable intake, but also decreases days with functional limitations while having no impact on healthcare access. Subsample analyses reveal that the increase in weight and decrease in fruit and vegetable intake are driven by the older population, married, and whites. The improvement in self-reported health is especially strong among non-whites, females, and married.
- Published
- 2018
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