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3.1 Low-wage workers in the US hit by COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on low-wage workers in the United States. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, an estimated 5.1 million low-wage workers in the US have been laid off or furloughed since the start of the pandemic. This represents nearly one-third of the total number of workers affected by the crisis. Additionally, the pandemic has further highlighted the need for a national minimum wage increase. Currently, the federal minimum wage in the US is $7.25 an hour, which is well below the poverty line for many families. The effects of the pandemic have also highlighted the need for additional measures to protect vulnerable workers, such as paid sick leave and hazard pay.
This topic remains underdiscussed in the minimum wage debates, here are some recent results from Atsushi Yamagishi: I analyze the effect of minimum wage hikes on housing rents using exogenous variation in minimum wages across local labor markets in Japan. I estimate that in low-quality rental housing market, a 10% minimum wage increase induces a […]
In the U.S., the value of the federal minimum wage has declined to record lows due to rising inflation. Recent research sheds light on a new factor that may contribute to people’s opinions for or against raising the minimum wage: a growth vs. fixed mindset. The authors hypothesized that decision-makers’ mindsets about intelligence — specifically the belief that abilities are stable (i.e., a fixed mindset) rather than the belief that abilities can grow and develop over time (i.e., a growth mindset) — might contribute to people’s opposition to increasing low-wage workers’ compensation. This held true in correlational and experimental studies, and this pattern held among those who identified as “liberal” or “conservative,” as well as across the social class and income spectrum. While mindsets are just one of the many systemic and psychological factors that contribute to support for or against raising the minimum wage, these findings suggest that grassroots advocates, managers, and business and political leaders seeking support for increasing low-wage workers’ wages may want to consider invoking the growth mindset about intelligence.
Australian wage growth climbed 1.3% q/q in the third quarter, matching the consensus estimate and above an upwardly revised 0.9% gain in Q2. This was the highest gain since records started in 1997, but the spike was largely due to an increase in minimum wage and a pay rise for elderly care workers.