Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Minimum Wage As A Poverty Reducing Measure, Kevin Souza

Master's Theses - Economics

With the recent increase in the Federal minimum wage, it is important to consider the impact of minimum wage in order to assess its effectiveness as a poverty reducing measure. While an increase in the minimum wage will increase income, the increased labor cost may cause an increase in unemployment. Greater unemployment may negate any benefit derived from the change in the minimum wage. Also, the minimum wage could put upward pressure on all wages. By using data from the Census and Bureau of Labor and Statistic’s 2006 March Supplement, it is possible to develop a model that empirically tests …