A large body of research exploring the impacts of the minimum wage exists, but these studies tend to focus on the economic consequences of minimum wage policies. Recent studies have shown, however, that minimum wage rates are also associated with health outcomes such as infant mortality and birth weight, women’s underweight and obesity, suicide rates, and smoking prevalence. This research will focus on how findings might differ across populations such as teenagers, adults, men, women, and continuously employed and unemployed people.
This study will model the relationship between state-level minimum wage rates and general health outcomes for men and women of color who have never attended college. To test this relationship, this study will use Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–administered Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data.