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Associations between minimum wage policy and access to health care: Evidence from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system, 1996-2007

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  • McCarrier, K.P.
  • Zimmerman, F.J.
  • Ralston, J.D.
  • Martin, D.P.

Abstract

Objectives. We examined whether minimum wage policy is associated with access to medical care among low-skilled workers in the United States. Methods. We used multilevel logistic regression to analyze a data set consisting of individual-level indicators of uninsurance and unmet medical need from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and state-level ecological controls from the US Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and several other sources in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1996 and 2007. Results. Higher state-level minimum wage rates were associated with significantly reduced odds of reporting unmet medical need after control for the ecological covariates, substate region fixed effects, and individual demographic and health characteristics (odds ratio=0.853; 95% confidence interval=0.750, 0.971). Minimum wage rates were not significantly associated with being uninsured. Conclusions. Higher minimum wages may be associated with a reduced likelihood of experiencing unmet medical need among low-skilled workers, and do not appear to be associated with uninsurance. These findings appear to refute the suggestion that minimum wage laws have detrimental effects on access to health care, as opponents of the policies have suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • McCarrier, K.P. & Zimmerman, F.J. & Ralston, J.D. & Martin, D.P., 2011. "Associations between minimum wage policy and access to health care: Evidence from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system, 1996-2007," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(2), pages 359-367.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2006.108928_0
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.108928
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    Cited by:

    1. Leigh, J. Paul, 2021. "Treatment design, health outcomes, and demographic categories in the literature on minimum wages and health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    2. Vit Hradil, 2018. "Does Minimum Wage Affect Workplace Safety?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp615, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    3. Kathryn L. Clark & R. Vincent Pohl & Ryan C. Thomas, 2020. "Minimum Wages And Healthy Diet," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(3), pages 546-560, July.
    4. David Neumark, 2023. "The Effects of Minimum Wages on (Almost) Everything? A Review of Recent Evidence on Health and Related Behaviors," NBER Working Papers 31191, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Du Juan & Leigh J. Paul, 2018. "Effects of Minimum Wages on Absence from Work Due to Illness," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-23, January.
    6. Pohl, R. Vincent & Clark, Kathryn L. & Thomas, Ryan C., 2017. "Minimum Wages and Healthy Diet," MPRA Paper 87239, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. O'Brien, Rourke & Bair, Elizabeth F. & Venkataramani, Atheendar S., 2022. "Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 607-628.
    8. Otto Lenhart, 2017. "The impact of minimum wages on population health: evidence from 24 OECD countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(8), pages 1031-1039, November.
    9. George L. Wehby & Dhaval M. Dave & Robert Kaestner, 2020. "Effects of the Minimum Wage on Infant Health," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 411-443, March.
    10. Aaron Reeves & Martin McKee & Johan Mackenbach & Margaret Whitehead & David Stuckler, 2017. "Introduction of a National Minimum Wage Reduced Depressive Symptoms in Low‐Wage Workers: A Quasi‐Natural Experiment in the UK," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 639-655, May.
    11. Sigaud, Liam & Daley, Angela & Rubin, Jonathan & Noblet, Caroline, 2022. "The effects of recent minimum wage increases on self-reported health in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    12. Ji Young Kang, 2022. "Trajectories of Labor Market Inequalities and Health Among Employees in Korea: Multichannel Sequence Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 381-400, February.
    13. Elena Andreyeva & Benjamin Ukert, 2018. "The impact of the minimum wage on health," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 337-375, December.

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