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According to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 67% of Americans support raising the federal minimum hourly wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour, with 41% strongly supporting the increase. Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour has been the battle cry for many members of Congress, while others have opposed or expressed concern regarding, such a large increase. The federal minimum wage receives significant media focus, but many states and higher education institutions have established minimum wage rates that exceed or significantly exceed $7.25 per hour. To more clearly shape the perspective and understand the impact for higher education of a possible minimum wage increase, this brief includes a short history of federal minimum wage increases and the views of minimum wage increases through various lenses: (1) economic impact; (2) living wage; (3) the federal government; (4) state governments; and (5) higher education institutions.

New Mexico is home to nearly 70,000 infants and toddlers. New Mexico families are the state's strongest asset, yet current policies aren't meeting their needs. Children's growth and development are shaped by early life experiences. Good health, secure and stable families, and positive early learning environments foster children's physical, intellectual, and social-emotional development. Culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and policies that are developed in collaboration with local communities are also essential to their success. This profile provides an overview of several key policy areas--including home visiting, child care assistance, minimum wage, and cash assistance--that would be particularly impactful for families with infants and toddlers in New Mexico. These policy areas are also ripe for increased investment and improvement at the state level. [This report was written with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP).]

In a rapidly changing 21st-century economy with growing competition from abroad, continuing to field a world-leading, skilled workforce is both more essential and more challenging than ever to the mission of delivering increasing prosperity for American families and preserving our nation's economic leadership. The US must therefore confront its demographic challenges, as an aging population and slowing labor force growth pose risks to the economic strength and fiscal health of the country. To help confront these challenges and offer policy makers and business leaders balanced, reasoned solutions in the public interest, CED has formed a new subcommittee focused on growing and strengthening the American workforce. The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board believes that long-term American leadership, prosperity, and competitiveness hinge on the contributions of our nation's workforce. Business leaders interested in having access to the best talent for their companies and helping the country prosper must take the lead in creating a welcoming work environment where all Americans, regardless of background or identity, can make contributions in line with their talent and potential. But individual action will not be sufficient. As outlined in this report, achieving these improvements will require business leaders to work with policy makers and advocate for a range of policies to incentivize work and reduce the barriers that are currently preventing workers from achieving their employment goals. This report outlines four ways business leaders and policy makers can improve labor force participation and attachment. They can: (1) Strengthen the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for adults without qualifying children; (2) Lessen barriers to participation through improved employee-employer matching and increased mobility; (3) Help parents remain connected to the workforce and meet family responsibilities; and (4) Support older workers who wish to remain working.

What is the impact of the minimum wage on the college wage premium? I show that job-ladder models imply that the effect should be small on impact--raising only the wages of workers bound by the minimum wage--and grow over time as workers slowly move up the job ladder. Guided by my theory, I present evidence that these dynamic effects are present and powerful. Estimated at the national level, I show that minimum wages--together with supply and demand--play a central role in shaping the evolution of the U.S. college premium. Estimated at the state level, I show that the elasticity of the college premium to the minimum wage is small on impact and grows dramatically over time. To verify my theory's mechanisms, I additionally document the dynamic impact of the minimum wage over the full wage distribution: on impact, wages rise only for the lowest percentiles (consistent with the literature) but over time this effect spills over up the wage distribution (consistent with my theory and my empirical results on the skill premium). On the basis of these theoretical and empirical results, I conclude that the minimum wage plays a central role in shaping the U.S. college premium and its variation across states.

This is the eighth year that CUPA-HR has conducted the CUPA-HR Staff in Higher Education Survey, which collects data on primarily non-exempt staff. The survey collects the following data for all higher ed staff: salary, sex, race/ethnicity, age, and years in position. This marks a special year for data collection and reporting for all CUPA-HR surveys. The severe budget cuts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many institutions to freeze hiring, cut positions, and, in some cases, decrease salaries. This report highlights the overall changes to staff composition and salaries over the past year.

Slow job growth and a labor market still short of full employment have resulted in stagnant wages and little growth in income in Pennsylvania. In order for the majority of Pennsylvania families to see real income growth in the years ahead the state will need a combination of faster job growth and economic policies that actively seek to raise wages for more workers. The authors' message to Pennsylvania policymakers is two-fold: first, "do no harm" -- enact a sustainable state budget NOW that reinvests in education, communities, and jobs, and avoids a repeat of the economy-sapping budget mistakes of 2011. Second, do some good: enact policies that will lift wages and incomes starting, in Pennsylvania, with a minimum wage increase. [For the 2014 report, see ED624285.]

How do changes in minimum wages affect community college enrollment and employment? In particular, among adults without associate's or bachelor's degrees who may earn near the minimum wage, do endowment effects of a higher minimum wage encourage school attendance? Among adults without associate's or bachelor's degrees who may earn near the minimum wage, does the higher opportunity cost for attending school created by the minimum wage reduce community college enrollment? As Neumark and Wascher (2008) ask, does a higher minimum wage reduce employment and through that channel encourage school enrollment? This analysis compares individual-level and aggregated data to examine why findings about the effects of minimum wages on school enrollment produce mixed results. The author highlights the role of heterogeneous results by group as a reason results in the aggregate may be mixed. Which groups are most likely to attend has implications for policy and practice. However, the sample may not adequately capture trends that have developed during the Great Recession, including both the expansion of and increased governmental scrutiny of online, for-profit higher educational offerings. Tables and figures are appended.

Internships are the new rung on the professional ladder. For the most sought after professions especially, they are increasingly seen as a requirement before a young person is offered their first job. However, too often internships are unpaid and not openly advertised. For young people who cannot afford to work for free, and for those who do not have the networks with which to secure a placement informally, internships are acting as a barrier to the best careers - and to social mobility. This brief looks at the existing research on internships in the UK, and introduces new and updated analysis on the current minimum cost of carrying out an unpaid internship in two major UK cities, London and Manchester. Key findings and recommendations are discussed.

Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) is a summer employment, academic remediation, and life skills program intended to lower school dropout rates by reducing summer learning loss and preventing teen parenthood. The program is integrated into the federal summer jobs program and is offered during six-to-eight-week sessions in two consecutive summers. It includes part-time summer work at minimum wage, a daily reading and math curriculum, and "life skills and opportunities" classes that focus on topics such as sexual behavior, drug use, careers, and community involvement. The program serves low-income 14- and 15-year-olds who have tested below grade level in either reading or math. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviewed three studies of STEP. Two of these studies do not meet either WWC evidence standards or eligibility screens. Based on the remaining study, a randomized controlled trial including more than 2,500 students in Massachusetts, California, Washington, and Oregon, the WWC found the intervention to have no discernible effects on either staying in school or progressing in school. The conclusions presented in this report may change as new research emerges. Six appendices are included. (1) Study Characteristics; (2) Outcome measures for the staying and progressing in school domains; (3) Summary of study findings included in the rating for the staying and progressing in school domains; (4) Summary of graduation rate findings; (5) STEP rating for the staying and progressing in school domains; and (6) Extent of evidence by domain. (Contains 10 footnotes. Appendices are individually footnoted.)

This report proposes several distinct--yet interrelated--policy opportunities that can move more Texans into the middle class. These proposals blend greater state-level investments with common sense policy changes to increase economic well-being for working Texans. While Texas policy makers have recognized the connection between workforce productivity and economic development, state economic development strategies depend too heavily on corporate incentives. State workforce investments have lagged behind. As incentives become more expensive, they will deliver lower and lower returns on investment. A sustainable growth agenda is necessary to truly improve economic well-being, enhance marketable skills, and create wealth-building opportunities for working Texans. This report analyzes the barriers facing low-income Texans and provides recommendations to promote prosperity and move the economy forward.

The United States of America is often called the "land of opportunity," a place where hard work and sacrifice lead to economic success. Across generations, countless families have been able to live out that promise. However, more than one out of four American working families now earn wages so low that they have difficulty surviving financially. These are families with responsible, hard-working breadwinners who want to get ahead but hold down low-paying jobs with inadequate benefits and little hope for advancement. Many lack the skills and education they need to move into jobs that pay better, even while the economy demands more highly trained employees. And while the nation's economy relies on the service jobs these low-paid workers fill--such as cashiers, janitors, security guards and home health aides--society has not taken adequate steps to ensure that these workers can make ends meet and build a future for their families, no matter how determined they are to be self-sufficient. The Working Poor Families Project, with the support of the Annie E. Casey, Ford and Rockefeller foundations, has spent three years working in 15 states to examine both the conditions of low-income working families with children and public policies that can help improve their lives. This report builds on that work and takes a broader look at low-income working families across the nation and key facets of an economic and public system that affect their ability to achieve economic security. Appended is: Defining Economic Self-Sufficiency Realistically. (Contains 4 tables, 2 charts, and 67 endnotes.) [This report was written with assistance from Sara Rab and Steve Ressler. It is a product of the Working Poor Families Project, a national initiative supported by the Annie E. Casey, Ford and Rockefeller foundations.]

With the series "Advancement for Low-Wage Workers," Jobs for the Future seeks to elevate discussion of this critical issue within and outside the workforce field. These occasional papers address public policy and on-the-ground practice. "The Next Challenge," the series introduction, argues for placing not just employment, but also advancement at the center of employment and training policy. It defines career advancement as a goal, explores key challenges and opportunities, and highlights strategies to help significantly more low-skill workers move up to better jobs and family-supporting earnings. [Introduction to a series of reports on Advancement for Low-Wage Workers.]

Many of Wisconsin's working families face economic distress, living from paycheck to paycheck and being forced to choose between paying their rent or buying food for their children. Parents under stress often cannot support their children with time, energy or resources. In order to affirm the importance of children in the state, and to help build an economy based on high skill levels and productivity that will benefit both workers and firms, data were collected to look at the problems that confront Wisconsin's working poor families and how some of those problems can be solved. Wisconsin performs well when compared to the national average, but there is room for improvement. Data collected shows the following: 4.5% of working families do not earn enough to rise above the poverty line; while the majority of adults have a high school education, this no longer guarantees a high-paying job; workers tend to work more hours and hold multiple jobs, which suggests that many jobs do not pay a sustainable wage; and only 10% of workers do not receive health insurance from their employers. Suggestions for areas of policy improvement include the following: (1) improve low-income workers' access to education and training; (2) support sectorial initiatives that build Wisconsin's strongest industries; (3) create a system for monitoring corporate subsidies and measuring their effectiveness; (4) raise and index the state's minimum wage; and (5) increase the state's commitment to existing programs. (Contains 7 tables and source information for the text and the tables.) (MO)

Vermont's Welfare Restructuring Project (WRP), which was implemented in 1994-2001, required that single-parent welfare recipients who could not find wage-paying jobs after receiving cash assistance for 30 months accept work in subsidized, minimum-wage community service employment (CSE) positions to satisfy their work requirement and improve their ability to obtain unsubsidized employment. The WRP was subjected to a comprehensive evaluation that included an analysis of data from the administrative records of its CSE component and surveys of CSE participants and their supervisors. Most CSE worksites were involved with education, public works, or social services. Although many participants were not given a choice about their CSE assignment, nearly 90% considered it very or somewhat fair that they had been required to accept a CSE assignment. Although most CSE participants viewed their CSE experience positively, only slightly more than half saw their CSE job as a way out of welfare. CSE was credited with helping participants gain/improve the following types of employment qualifications: skills required for specific jobs; basic job skills; ability to use tools and machines; academic skills; soft skills; and good work habits. Supervisors generally considered CSE useful, but stated that they could have given participants more training had the CSE positions been full time. (Contains 10 tables and 7 figures.) (MN)

Policy options for increasing the earnings of the young welfare recipients were explored by analyzing the incomes of nearly 12,000 young women in Baltimore, Maryland, whose 19th birthday fell between April 1, 1985, and March 31, 1989, and who had at least one spell of welfare dependency between their 19th and 29th birthdays. An analysis of the earnings of 24 subpopulations (based on race and short-term, cyclic, or long-term welfare receipt) established that, as a group, the welfare recipients have demonstrated an ability and willingness to work at least some of the time. However, a reasonable estimate of how much they would earn if they devoted more time to work, without factoring in accumulation of and reward for additional human capital, indicated that most would fall short of a full-time federal minimum wage benchmark. The following welfare policy changes were recommended: (1) abandon job entry as a performance indicator; (2) stop overuse of the career ladder for the crafting of advice to those who seek to enter or advance in the labor market and substitute a "climbing wall" metaphor; and (3) revisit the off-the-books earnings issue to gain a better understanding of how it affects the incidence and distribution of employee benefits coverage. (Contains 17 references.) (MN)

The Washington State welfare reform program WorkFirst is designed to move individuals from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) into the workforce. A critical question facing the program is how to assist participants in sustaining and advancing their employment. Three studies of those who exited the program measured multiple outcomes against targets. Worker occupations were found to be low-skill, low-wage jobs with limited advancement opportunities. The average monthly household income for participants who worked all year was much higher than for those who did not work. Two thirds of those who exited from WorkFirst remained out, while one-third returned to assistance within one year. Only half of those receiving a WorkFirst benefit are moved into a job search workshop. A program designed to minimize impact on the unemployment insurance system was unsuccessful. A measure of caseload reduction has shown that WorkFirst is becoming less effective over time in maintaining families' economic independence. Analysis showed that a better approach is to emphasize retention or to assist with rapid job transitions. The researchers concluded that also needed are the following: (1) a greater emphasis on moving WorkFirst participants through the program, off the program, and into follow-on support such as the Job Success Coach Initiative; and (2) services specifically designed for returners. (SLR)

Noting that 182,000 of Wisconsin's children are living below the poverty line, this report documents factors affecting the working poor of Wisconsin, combining labor market and wage data with profiles of families and their children from communities throughout the state. The report documents the surge in poverty-wage jobs in Wisconsin over the past 20 years and its impact on workers and their families. The report concludes with policy recommendations to improve Wisconsin's existing system of work supports and tax credits to more effectively assist working poor families. The policy recommendations are designed to build systems that make work pay and support working families. Included throughout the report's policy section are "best practices," innovative program ideas that demonstrate concrete, feasible options for the state. (EV)

A study estimated the costs of the "Chicago Jobs and Living Wage Ordinance" that would require firms that receive assistance from the city of Chicago to pay their workers an hourly wage of at least $7.60. An estimate of the additional labor cost that would result from the proposed Ordinance was calculated. Results of a survey of contractors, delegate agencies, airport concessionaires, recipients of tax increment financing funds, and subsidized loan recipients were converted to obtain a citywide estimate of the cost of the proposed ordinance. Employer responses (1) passing the entire cost of the ordinance through to city government, a cost borne by taxpayers; (2) dismissing low-skill workers; and (3) leaving the city due to reduced profits. The impact of raising a worker's wage from the federal minimum to the Ordinance's amount was examined. Results indicate an increase in after-tax income of workers' families, loss of food stamp and Medicaid benefits, and increased labor costs due to the Ordinance. Chicago taxpayers would bear the cost, resulting in gains to taxpayers elsewhere and limited net benefit to any Chicago workers. The overall impact on Chicago would be reduced employment, loss of businesses, increased taxes, and an uncertain impact on poverty in Chicago. (YLB)

In 1999, Congress for the first time, is debating a federal minimum wage hike that will affect low-skilled people who have dramatically fewer options if they cannot find work. This public policy debate has been occasioned by the new state focus on welfare reform that, to some, suggests that a state flexibility approach be applied to the minimum wage, with the federal government insuring against a rollback of the current wage floor. In this view, Congress should grant governors authority over their own labor markets to match their new responsibility for creating employment opportunities for those who have great difficulty getting hired. The state flexibility proposal is composed of two elements: a wage hike to $6.15 per hour, phased in over 3 years; and state flexibility: any state without a minimum wage law would be subject to the federal minimum wage, whereas any state that has its own minimum wage law would retain the current rate of $5.15 and would be exempt from future federal rate increases. If this legislation were enacted, each state with a minimum wage law in place would have four options: (1) raise the state wage at the pace of the federal rate; (2) keep the state rate constant at its current rate; (3) raise the state rate but more slowly than the federal rate hike; or (4) raise the state rate higher or more quickly than the federal rate hike. Research shows that the public strongly favors state, rather than federal, control of the minimum wage rate, and application of the state flexibility approach would encourage evolution of smaller government and encourage job growth for the least skilled workers, according to the proponents of the proposed policy. Nowhere has the shift of federal control to the state level been more aggressive than in the field of education and job training. The Education Flexibility Partnership Act (1999) provides states with flexibility in spending federal education dollars and increases state accountability for educational achievement. (KC)

The business press abounds with examples of innovative companies that have created high-quality jobs; however, low-wage, deskilled jobs filled by contingent workers are equally prevalent. More than one in six U.S. workers currently hold retail jobs. The effect of globalization of trade on the retail industry is unclear. The most significant development to date is that the retail market has, according to many analysts, become highly congested and overbuilt. The leading retail strategy is the Wal-Mart model, which includes a "low-road" human resource approach. Sales jobs are dead-end jobs, starting pay is at or near minimum wage, raises are given yearly but not guaranteed, and the low pay is exacerbated by short and uncertain work schedules and the lack of opportunity to work sufficient hours each week to produce a livable paycheck. Upward mobility in the retail sector is limited. Most retail firms choose to import educated workers rather than train incumbent workers. The problem of mobility is not limited to the retail sector. Although skilled workers in professional occupations may be able to create new career paths that preserve their opportunities, opportunities for upward mobility do not look promising for the more numerous occupations further down the ladder. (Contains 12 references.) (MN)

In 1997, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry implemented a change in its method of determining prevailing wage and benefit rates, resulting in a reduction in the legally required prevailing rates in many construction trades in much of the state. This report analyzes data to determine if this change in fact lowered the cost of public construction projects. It concludes that this claim is not supported. It asserts, for example, that data on public school construction costs show no strong evidence that Pennsylvania's lower prevailing wages and benefits reduced construction costs charged by contractors performing public works. The report also finds that lower prevailing minimum wages paid to workers have no measurable impact on public construction costs partly because wage declines lead to offsetting declines in productivity. (EV)

With welfare reform now a reality, policy makers and employers must grapple with the employment impediments that keep much of the welfare population out of the work force. The foremost problem is illiteracy. One-third of welfare recipients are functionally illiterate; another third possesses only marginally better reading skills, still unable to perform many basic job-related tasks. Entry-level jobs represent their only employment opportunities. Lacking formal education and real work experience, they cannot expect middle management jobs or salaries based on need rather than qualifications. With welfare reform, many are proposing higher mandated wages or so-called "living wages" of up to $9 per hour or more. These proposals ignore the basic tenet of the employment process: employees are hired based on their skills, not their needs. Despite overwhelming evidence of the effects of literacy and work experience on wages and massive spending on primary, secondary, and remedial education, literacy rates continue to decline. The contradiction between the ideals of welfare reform and the realities of high minimum wages should force policymakers to address certain questions: what will be the long-term effects of mandating wages that illiterate people will never command. How can welfare recipients find work if wages that equate to their skill levels are outlawed? And how can untrained and illiterate individuals gain on-the-job experience if they are priced out of the entry-level job market? (Appendixes include definitions and 42 endnotes.) (YLB)

Children are among the poorest of Maine's residents. Nearly 1 in 5 children under the age of 18, 19.3%, lived in families below the federal poverty line in the early 1990s. Most of these poor children lived in working families. The working poor are often missing from policy debates, but their numbers are likely to increase with welfare reform efforts. In Maine, working poor families represent a broad cross-section of the state's population. Job growth in Maine has been concentrated in industries with low average pay, and federal and state policies have contributed to working poverty. Because most poor children are in families with a worker, the high child poverty rate in Maine is unlikely to decline significantly without efforts to assist low-wage working families. Steps the state could take to help the working poor include: (1) enacting a state earned income credit; (2) raising the minimum wage; (3) modifying the rules for aid to families with dependent children to allow families to earn more without a loss of benefits; (4) strengthening the unemployment insurance system; and (5) responding to the child care and health care needs of the working poor. As these policies helped alleviate child poverty, they would promote the broad goals of welfare reform by helping parents support their families. (Contains nine figures and seven tables.) (SLD)

The relationship between wage differentiation and long-term unemployment was examined in a study that considered data regarding long-term unemployment and minimum wages in the United States, Japan, and 10 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Data regarding wages and unemployment in the 11 countries were analyzed to determine the effect of minimum wages on employment and unemployment and the relationship between long-term unemployment and wage disparity. In the data analysis, consideration was given to the differences between individual countries' wage replacement payments, wage negotiations, and labor market policies. After those factors had been taken into account, it was determined that larger wage disparity (or a lower first decile ratio of the distribution of incomes) decreases the relative number of long-term unemployed among the total number of unemployed individuals in a given country. The study confirmed the neoclassical standard model of the labor market with perfect competition and contradicted U.S. studies that could not find any negative employment after the minimum wage increases in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The implications of the study findings were discussed within the context of Germany's labor market and labor market policies. (Contains 42 references.) (MN)

A study described the effects of minimum wages on teenagers by using individual-level panel data on school and work transitions of teenagers. Panel data from 1979-92 measuring transitions among alternative employment and enrollment activities of teenagers were obtained from matched Current Population Surveys data sets. Findings indicated that higher minimum wages had significant negative effects on the employment prospects of less skilled teens. In addition, increases in the minimum wage were associated with an earlier age for leaving school. These employment changes were not evenly distributed across all youth, but were concentrated among those youths with the worst employment prospects. Younger idle youths (ages 16-17) had an almost 6 percentage point increase in their changes of continued idleness compared to older idle youths (ages 18-19). The effect of higher minimum wages was even stronger for minority youths. If they were idle before the minimum wage was raised, they would have a higher probability of continuing to be idle. The relationship between a teen worker's wage and the new minimum markedly affected the employment outcome. Teens employed with wages below the new minimum showed a higher probability of becoming unemployed. (Appendixes include previous research on substitution hypothesis, the data set, the econometric framework and estimation, additional evidence on queuing, information on the robustness of the results, and a list of 32 references.) (YLB)

This booklet, which is designed to clarify facts regarding the minimum wage's impact on marketplace economics, contains a total of 31 questions and answers pertaining to the following topics: relationship between minimum wages and poverty; impacts of changes in the minimum wage on welfare reform; and possible effects of changes in the minimum wage and job loss. Among the issues addressed in the individual questions are the following: characteristics of individuals who work at the minimum wage; whether a higher minimum wage would help selected groups such as poor families, low-skilled adults, and minorities; whether the minimum wage should be linked to other wages in the economy, the Consumer Price Index, and/or inflation; the types of jobs people take when leaving welfare; whether individuals leaving welfare for entry-level jobs will require permanent income support; the findings of studies examining the link between the minimum wage and job loss in California, New Jersey, and Texas; and the effects of minimum wage increases on youth employment and unemployment. The bibliography lists 64 publications dealing with the following topics: labor market and employment effects of the minimum wage; youth and the minimum wage; macroeconomic effects; and poverty and equity issues. (MN)

The consequences of indexing the minimum wage to average wages in the U.S. economy were analyzed. The study data were drawn from the 1974-1978 May Current Population Survey (CPS) and the 180 monthly CPS Outgoing Rotation Group files for 1979-1993 (approximate annual sample sizes of 40,000 and 180,000, respectively). The effects of indexing on the minimum wage were analyzed, the beneficiaries of a higher minimum wage were identified, and the question of whether indexing satisfies the objectives of minimum wage policy was discussed. It was discovered that, had the minimum wage been linked to the average wage back in 1974, the minimum wage would have been seriously overindexed by 1994. The analysis of the impact of a higher minimum wage on specific groups revealed that children and other workers living with their parents would thus receive more than twice as much extra income as would all families dependent on a single minimum wage worker. Simple comparisons between the minimum wage and other wages in the economy were concluded to be simplistic. It was recommended that adjustments be made for changes in the composition of the work force (the baby boom generation has entered its prime earnings years; greater numbers of women have entered the workforce, working for lower wages than men; and more college degree holders with higher average wages have entered the work force) just as adjustments are made for inflation. (Contains 22 tables/figures and 15 references.) (MN)

The potential effects of raising the minimum wage on the earnings of mothers moving from welfare to work were examined by analyzing the differences that existed in the late 1980s in the various states' minimum wage rates and data from three waves of the Survey of Income and Program Participation for the years 1985-1990 (during which time 13 states had minimum wages set above the federal level). Increases in the minimum wage were found to have had significant negative effects on the work patterns of mothers receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Half the welfare mothers residing in states that did not raise their minimum wage reported working at some time during the 6 years studied versus only 40% of the welfare mothers in states that had raised their minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage resulted in a 44% longer duration on welfare. It was concluded that increases in the minimum wage intensify competition for low-skill, low-wage jobs. Increases crowd out the least skilled workers, including mothers attempting to leave welfare, by raising the educational qualifications for marginal workers to high school graduation. (Contains 11 tables and 60 references. Appended are definitions of variables used in the tables and information about the state minimum wage panel data set.) (MN)