EPI Research (Page 12 )

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

  September 2008

  In June 2007, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proposed legislation to raise the state minimum wage from $7.15 to $8.25 per hour, and to index it to inflation thereafter. Proponents argue that such minimum wage increases have no negative employment effects (Card and Krueger, 1995; Dube et al., 2008) and will be effective in aiding poor workers,[1] while opponents emphasize the minimum wage’s…

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

  July 2008

  The primary aim of minimum wage policies is to enable individuals and families to achieve economic security and independence without recourse to government assistance (Brown at al. 1982, 1983; Ellwood 1988). Although minimum wage policies aim to raise the living standards of workers, most economic studies based upon standard models of labor demand and supply show that such wage gains are trumped by higher levels…

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

  January 2008

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

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  Helping Low-wage Americans: The Earned Income Tax Credit

  September 2007

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

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  Employer Health Insurance Mandates and the Risk of Unemployment

  September 2007

  This 2007 study looks at the effects of proposed “pay or play” health insurance mandates on employers, and specifically the potential for job loss.

  Authors first looked at the projected cost of insurance mandates and the potential for resulting wage decreases as employers shift the new costs to workers. Researchers then focused on how many employees currently without health insurance make a wage so…

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  Who Gets What From Employer “Pay or Play” Mandates

  September 2007

  This 2007 study looks at who really benefits from pay or play health insurance mandates. Researchers find that mandates, which required employers to either provide health insurance for their workers or pay a flat tax per hour to offset the cost of health care, are a very blunt instrument for providing health insurance for the working poor.

  The authors found that not only do a…