Minimum Wage: Whats Next? Heather D. Hill WCPC Poverty Summit - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Minimum Wage: What’s Next?

Heather D. Hill WCPC Poverty Summit • September 29, 2015

Agenda

> The Minimum Wage Study: Seattle > What do we know about minimum wage policy effects? > What do we need to know? > What other policies could help?

The Minimum Wage Study: Seattle

> Multi-year evaluation of minimum wage law in Seattle

– What are the effects on workers and families, employers, and the local economy?

> Funded through City of Seattle evaluation contract and grants from national foundations > UW Investigators: Scott Allard, Heather Hill, Mark Long, Jennifer Otten, Robert Plotnick, Jennie Romich, and Jake Vigdor > WA-ESD Investigators: Scott Bailey and Anneliese Vance-Sherman

Our approach

> Examine a broad set of outcomes > Expect a complex story > Use multiple data sources and techniques to disentangle the story

– Employer survey – Qualitative study of low-wage workers with children – Analysis of state administrative data on employment, earnings, & public assistance – Web and in-person price data collection

> Produce rigorous evidence that is useful for Seattle and other cities

What do we know about minimum wage policies?

> Most research on federal and state minimum wage policies > Focused on employment & earnings outcomes > Rigorous but inconclusive evidence base + ? ? ? ?

What do we need to know?

What other policies could help?

> Workplace regulations: Improving the quality of lower-wage jobs > Family leave: Providing economic security around the birth of a child > Education & training: Identifying paths to better jobs > Public assistance: Reducing instability while promoting mobility