Impact of minimum wage on child health varies
Study of low-, middle-income countries shows increase in minimum wage not always linked to better health
Raising the minimum wage in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) does not necessarily lead to better health for young children, according to a new study by 91社区 researchers.
The finding, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, marks the first time that research has examined the impact of minimum wage laws on children鈥檚 health in LMICs.
鈥淢y goal was to find out if polices intended to reduce poverty and economic inequality are effective in improving child health,鈥� says lead author Muhammad Farhan Majid, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Maternal and Child Health Equity Project at 91社区鈥檚 Institute for Health and Social Policy.
To carry out their analysis, researchers used a measurement known as the height-for-age z score (HAZ). This number indicates how a child鈥檚 height compares to the mean height of children his/her age and is an important indicator of early childhood nutrition.
Majid and colleagues obtained the HAZ scores of almost 140,000 children up to five years old born over a fourteen-year period in 49 LMICs颅 across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The children were all from urban areas of those countries. Researchers then combined that data with information on government mandated minimum wages over the same time span.
After accounting for other variables, researchers found鈥� perhaps counter intuitively鈥搕hat an increase in minimum wages is associated with a decrease in HAZ scores in lower income countries. This modest adverse effect was most pronounced in South Asian nations. There, a 1% increase in minimum wages led to a .8% decrease in HAZ scores. Researchers also found that this adverse effect was greater among children whose parents engaged in manual labor and in the poorest families.
Why would an increase in the minimum wage result in a negative health effect? Majid theorizes that upping the minimum wage may lead to higher unemployment in certain groups. 鈥淚f wages were to increase, businesses may be more聽likely聽to fire women of聽childbearing聽age who, in turn, may聽be less聽likely to avail themselves of health services around the period of聽child聽birth鈥� a time widely understood to be a critical in shaping child nutrition and stunting levels.鈥�
The study also found that some groups did benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. They include children born in Latin America as well as those whose parents work in skilled jobs.
Majid says the results indicate that much more research is needed. 鈥淲e are just scratching the surface of this important yet much ignored聽topic. We need to better understand the mechanisms at play鈥搘hat is it about some regions and communities聽that makes minimum wage legislation聽effective in improving聽early life聽health and what is it that causes unintended聽adverse effects in other communities.鈥�
In future work, Majid plans on carrying out a similar study in Indonesia, where detailed data will allow him to differentiate between minimum wage health effects in children whose parents work in the formal versus informal economy.
To contact Muhammad Farhan Majid directly: farhan [dot] majid [at] mcgill [dot] ca (farhan [dot] majid [at] mcgill [dot] ca)听听