Research
Research
Working Paper
Minimum Wage and Child Health: Evidence from the 1966 Fair Labor Standards Act
(Job Market Paper)
In the minimum wage literature, much of the focus has been on the effects of minimum wage changes on employment, wages, earnings of labor market participants, and income. However, through its influence on parents’ income, time allocation, and capacity for health investment, a change in the minimum wage can also affect child health. In this study, I examine the effect of the minimum wage introduced by the 1966 Fair Labor Standards Act on child health. The study uses intergenerational survey data from US households in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and employs a difference-in-differences research design. The results show that the introduction of a minimum wage increases the likelihood of a healthy childhood. The effect is not homogeneous across states; it is stronger in states without prior minimum wage policies, where the Act represented a larger shock. The results further reveal significant gender heterogeneity, indicating that the health improvement effect of the minimum wage policy is substantially stronger for girls than for boys.
Keywords: Minimum wage, Child health, Difference-in-Differences, Fair Labor Standards Act (1966)
JEL Codes: J38, J13, J08
Working Paper
Maternal Work Intensity and Childhood Health: Heterogeneity Over Stages of Child Development
Childhood Poverty and Labor Market Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Health and Education.
Publications
Financial viability of groundwater irrigation and its impact on livelihoods of smallholder farmers: The case of eastern Ethiopia with Fitsum Hagos. Water Resources and Economics, September 2014, 7, 55-65.
The impact of improved maize varieties on farm productivity and wellbeing: Evidence from the East Hararghe zone of Ethiopia. with Ahmed, M.S., Tazeze, A. & Andualem, E. Development Studies Research, December 2017, 4(1), 9-21.
Effect of cropland and livestock ownership on child labor in eastern Ethiopia: empirical examination of the Wealth Paradox. with Shumetie, A. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 2019, 13 (1), 5. 2
Research Related Experience
Pastoralist Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion (PRIME) Project.
Lead Researcher for Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Improvement October, 2015 - June, 2017.
Associate Researcher for Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Improvement October, 2014 - September, 2015.
Livelihood Researcher October, 2013 - September, 2014. Editor and Contributor: "Proceedings of HU-PRIME Project Research Activities", Vol. 1, 2017.
Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Ethiopia Project Phase I funded by Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP)
Principal Investigator September, 2014 - June, 2017.