State minimum wage increases delay marriage and reduce divorce among low‐wage households

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the effects of state-level changes in the minimum wage on marriage and divorce among lowwage earners. Background: Proponents of raising the minimum wage highlight the potential benefits of increased earnings for lowincome families, yet to date research on the effects of raising the minimum wage has focused almost exclusively on economic outcomes. No research has yet documented whether these changes actually affect marriage and divorce. Method: Using the Current Population Survey and the American Community Survey, this project applied a quasi-experimental difference-in-difference method to exploit similarities between states that have, and have not, raised their minimum wage. Results: Across data sources, among men and women earning low wages, a one-dollar increase in the state minimum wage predicts a 3%-6% decline in marriage entry and a 7%-15% decline in divorce one and 2 years later. Conclusion: Both changes are likely to strengthen lowincome families, and are substantially larger effects than those obtained by federal policies directly targeting interpersonal dynamics within low-income couples. Implications: Government policies that reduce stress on couples and facilitate their access to resources may improve family outcomes, invisibly and without making additional demands on the time of couples who are already strained.

Association of Increasing the Minimum Wage in the US With Experiences of Maternal Stressful Life Events

“…Our findings contribute to the literature on the association of economic policies with maternal health. Our results are consistent with recent evaluations of the association of minimum wage increases with health outcomes, including reductions in adverse birth outcomes, improvements in mental health, reductions in suicides, and decreases in divorce rates . They also align with evidence for financial support programs, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, TANF, and SNAP, in improving maternal health and reducing parental stress.…”

Understanding relationship satisfaction during COVID‐19: Assessing unstable work experiences and negative communication

“…Thus, exploring the main and interactive effect of broader contexts and specific communication behaviors is critical in understanding why relationships change and to inform couple‐based interventions. Given the adverse impact of unstable work experiences and limited influence of communication quality, these results support recent findings that alleviating external stressors may be an important target for interventions and can have an indirect effect on how relationships progress (Kanter et al, 2021; Karney et al, 2022). Although stimulus checks were meant to address financial stress, many individuals reported these checks were insufficient in adequately alleviating their financial concerns (e.g., Friedman, 2020), suggesting more consistent or larger supports may be warranted.…”

The impact of minimum wage on parental time allocation to children: evidence from the American Time Use Survey

“…We deflate minimum wage to 2019 dollars, and use the effective minimum wages, which is the maximum of either the state or federal minimum wage. Similar to recent studies, including Lenhart (2019), Dwyer Emory et al ( 2020), Karney et al (2022), Horn et al (2017), we choose to lag the minimum wage by a year to account for the possibility that the effects of minimum wage changes may not be immediate due to delays in family and market responses. 2 We use a lagged minimum wage as a reflection of household decisions for those households with children, for several reasons.…”