Effects of increased minimum wages by unemployment rate on suicide in the USA

[KJ]

Effects of increased minimum wages by unemployment rate on suicide in the USA - PMC

Social welfare policies such as the minimum wage can affect population health, though the impact may differ by the level of unemployment experienced by society at a given time. We ran difference-in-differences models using monthly data from all 50 ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Results​

The effect of a US$1 increase in the minimum wage ranged from a 3.4% decrease (95% CI 0.4 to 6.4) to a 5.9% decrease (95% CI 1.4 to 10.2) in the suicide rate among adults aged 18–64 years with a high school education or less. We detected significant effect modification by unemployment rate, with the largest effects of minimum wage on reducing suicides observed at higher unemployment levels.

Conclusion​

Minimum wage increases appear to reduce the suicide rate among those with a high school education or less, and may reduce disparities between socioeconomic groups. Effects appear greatest during periods of high unemployment.