Minimum Wage / Living Wage

Salaire Minimum / "Living Wage"

Updated April 1, 2008
Page révisée le 1er avril 2008

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[ Go to Canadian Social Research Links Home Page ]

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ONTARIO

From the Ontario Ministry of Labour:

Minimum Wage goes up Monday (March 31)
A Better Standard Of Living For Hard Working Families
News Release
March 28, 2008
When minimum wage earners in Ontario go to work Monday, they will be getting a raise.
Ontario is raising the minimum wage to $8.75 on March 31, 2008. This is the fifth increase since 2004.

Ontario's Minimum Wage Increases 2007 to 2010
- two more increases to get it up to $10.25 per hour by March 31, 2010

Ontario Minimum Wage Fact Sheet
- excellent info about the minimum wage in Ontario in a question-and-answer format

Ontario Employment Standards

Minimum Wage - Frequently-Asked Questions
Source:
WorkSmartOntario
"... the official website of the Ontario Ministry of Labour
for young workers and new workers."

Related links:

Minimum wage scare
Editorial
April 1, 2008
Some social activists are calling it "recession spook" – the talk of a looming economic downturn and the subsequent need to rein in the province's anti-poverty agenda. In that vein, some economists have warned that yesterday's 75-cent increase in the minimum wage to $8.75 an hour will lead to job losses. But the evidence for that is inconclusive, at best.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Hourly Minimum Wages by Province/Territory for Adult Workers, 2005 to 2014
NOTE: All Canadian jurisdictions are increasing their minimum wage levels in 2008, most in April or May.
Given the limited resources available in a one-person operation like Canadian Social Research Links, minimum wages aren't covered in this site as well as they could be (except in my own province, of course...); click the link above to see when and by how much the minimum wage level is increasing in all provinces and territories, from 2005 to 2014.
Source:
Labour Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Minimum wage (International)
This resource is worth viewing --- it contains information on minimum wages in 17 countries (including Canada), along with some objective information on the debate over consequences of minimum wage laws, costs and benefits of minimum wage legislation, recent trends in the U.S., policy alternatives to the minimum wage and much more.
TIP: See "References" and "External Links" (at the bottom of the table of contents) for links to dozens and dozens of free online resources!

WorkRights.Ca
WorkRights gives you a chance to access the latest information on the labour codes to your province, and to compare practices in your region with those of other provinces and territories in Canada.
HINT: for info on Canadian minimum wages, click on "Getting Paid" in the left margin of the page, then on "minimum wages"

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Does a higher minimum wage mean fewer jobs?

The Economics of the Minimum Wage
February 5, 2007
"(...) Predictably, the growing momentum for a higher minimum wage has generated cries from business and employer-friendly governments that such a move is an “inefficient” way of fighting poverty, and will come at the cost of jobs. (...) With respect to the job loss argument, individual studies by economists can be and are endlessly cited on one side or other of this endless debate. However, the consensus of even the impeccably orthodox and mainstream economists at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is now that minimum wages set at “reasonable” levels do not have significant negative impacts on the employment of so-called lower-skilled adults.

The Economics of the Minimum Wage (PDF file - 40K, 3 pages)
January 2007
Andrew Jackson

Source:
Canadian Labour Congress

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Raise the Minimum Wage
April 17, 2007
Some things are as reliable as Pavlov's dog. The NDP issued a news release calling for the minimum wage to be increased to $10 an hour and the salivating dogs, in this case the BC Chamber of Commerce and Retail BC, promptly countered with criticism of the idea. Retail BC argued that most businesses already pay more than the minimum wage. By contrast, the Chamber's release argued that an increase would impose an increase in "labour costs of over $450 million" on small businesses.

Source:
David Schreck, StrategicThoughts.com

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Set minimum wages above poverty line: Study
Press Release
March 26, 2007
TORONTO – Not a single province in Canada pays a minimum wage that lifts working Canadians out of poverty, concludes a study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Bringing Minimum Wages Above the Poverty Line shows that provincial governments have allowed the value of minimum wages to be eaten away by inflation for too long. Since 1990, their real dollar value has flatlined or increased only slightly in every Canadian province.

Bringing Minimum Wages Above the Poverty Line (PDF file - 877K, 56 pages)
March 2007
By Stuart Murray and Hugh Mackenzie
Summary (PDF file - 248K, 6 pages)

Raising the Minimum Wage in Ontario (PDF file - 167K, 3 pages)
February 2007
By Hugh Mackenzie
Complete report
"(...) Ontario’s minimum wage used to be more in line with the province’s industrial wage. In fact, the minimum wage in Ontario was as high as $9.97 in 1976 (adjusted to 2007 dollars, based on the Toronto area consumer price index)."

Minimum Wage Fact Sheets (PDF file - 958K, 8 pages)

Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

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A family consumed by long hours, low pay
January 20, 2007
Rita Daly
"You have to admire people like Sam Thuraisamy. For the last 14 years he has delivered tens of thousands of pizzas across the city and says he has only himself to blame for a lifetime of long hours and dismally low pay."
Re. the upcoming Ontario minimum wage increase
See also:
[Minimum Wage Review] Boards set wage in six provinces
January 20, 2007

Source:
The Toronto Star

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What's New from the Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris
Conseil de l'emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale - CERC[version française]

. The minimum wage and labour market flexibility (PDF file - 250K, 4 pages) N. Elgrably, Institut Economique de Montréal, IEDM, Montréal, Les notes économiques, December 2006
Geographical area : Canada

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Making a LIVING:
Defining a Living Wage for Alberta (PDF file - 638K, 8 pages)
Public Interest Alberta (PIA) contracted the ESPC to produce this report as part of its province-wide Living Wage campaign. The report analyses recent data on income and employment, as well as the results of PIA’s Living Wage survey. The report will be the foundation for PIA’s future advocacy around establishing Living Wage policies at the municipal and provincial levels. Visit PIA’s website (www.pialberta.org/) in early January to view a copy of the report.

Public Interest Alberta and the Living Wage

Living Wage Links

Source:
Public Interest Alberta

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Ontario Government Raises Minimum Wage
Increase Helps Lowest-Paid And Most Vulnerable Workers
News Release
January 3, 2007
TORONTO — The Ontario government is raising the minimum wage on February 1, 2007, for the fourth time since taking office, Labour Minister Steve Peters announced today.
“We are providing Ontario’s lowest-paid and most vulnerable workers with the fourth increase in the minimum wage in four years,” said Peters. “It is to Ontario’s economic advantage to see that our workers are paid a fair wage.” The general minimum wage will be raised to $8.00 per hour on February 1, 2007.

Backgrounder
- incl. current and historical minimum wage levels for specific job categories going back to 1995 under the former Tory government

Source:
Ontario Ministry of Labour

Also from the same Ministry:

Ontario Employment Standards

Minimum Wage - Frequently-Asked Questions
Source:
WorkSmartOntario
"... the official website of the Ontario Ministry of Labour
for young workers and new workers."

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Minimum wage (International)
This resource is worth viewing --- it contains information on minimum wages in 17 countries (including Canada), along with some objective information on the debate over consequences of minimum wage laws, costs and benefits of minimum wage legislation, recent trends in the U.S., policy alternatives to the minimum wage and much more.
TIP: See "References" and "External Links" (at the bottom of the table of contents) for links to dozens and dozens of free online resources!

WorkRights.Ca
WorkRights gives you a chance to access the latest information on the labour codes to your province, and to compare practices in your region with those of other provinces and territories in Canada.
HINT: for info on Canadian minimum wages, click on "Getting Paid" in the left margin of the page, then on "minimum wages"

Google Web Search Results:
"Ontario, minimum wage"
Google News Search Results:
"Ontario, minimum wage"
Google Blog Search Results
"Ontario, minimum wage"
Source:
Google.ca

The U.S. and minimum wage
Now that the Democrats have regained power in the U.S. Congress, they're planning quick action
on legislative priorities that include boosting both the minimum wage and stem cell research.
(The link takes you to a Google.ca search results for "U.S., minimum wage")

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Thirty Years of Dwindling Minimum Wages in Canada
Nov 6, 2006
The campaign for living wages has gathered momentum with bills sponsored by NDP members in both the federal Parliament and the Ontario legislature to increase the minimum wage to $10/hour. The just-released report on Federal Labour Standards also strongly recommended that the federal minimum wage be reintroduced at a level that would allow full-time workers to live above the poverty line. Federal and provincial politicians claim that we can’t afford it. But as Commissioner Harry Arthurs stated in this report, "This is an issue of fundamental decency that no modern, prosperous country like Canada can ignore." The real value of the minimum wage everywhere in Canada is now not just far below the poverty line, but also far below what it was thirty years ago, as the following CUPE Economic Brief shows. And contrary to what some politicians and low wage employers claim, increasing the minimum wage tends to have few negative economic impacts and is often positive. We can afford it and we should do it.

Complete report:

Thirty Years of Dwindling Minimum Wages in Canada (PDF file - 147K, 2 pages)
November 2006

Source:
Canadian Union of Public Employees

Related Links from the Federal Labour Standards Review Commission:

Fairness at Work:
Federal Labour Standards for the21st Century
HTML version
PDF version (1.5MB, 324 pages)
"Commissioner Harry Arthurs was appointed by the Minister of Labour in October 2004 to review Part III of the Canada Labour Code. Part III establishes labour standards for workers employed in federally regulated enterprises. It is administered by the Labour Program of the Department of Human Resources and Social Development."

Miminum Wages in Canada: Theory, Evidence and Policy (Executive Summary only)
Morley Gunderson, University of Toronto
Posted October 11, 2006
Source:
Commission Research Program

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What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:

Perspectives on Labour and Income - September 2006 online edition (PDF file - 419K, 17 pages)
The Core-Age Labour Force / Minimum wage workers in 2005
September 22, 2006
The feature article in the September 2006 online edition of Perspectives on Labour and Income, released today, is "The core-age labour force." The article examines labour force participation rates of women and men aged 25 to 54 over the last 10 years. After rising steadily from 1995 to 2004, participation rates for both sexes declined very slightly yet persistently from 2004 into the first half of 2006. However, it is too early to say if this is the beginning of a trend. One of the study's notable findings is the strong growth in the number of women with children (especially very young ones) entering or staying in the labour market.
This issue also includes an update on minimum wage workers for 2005. ("In 2005, some 587,000 individuals worked at or below the minimum wage set by their province.")

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Just Income Coalition
"The Just Income Coalition was developed in the fall of 2002 to promote economic justice for low-income individuals and families in Manitoba by addressing the issue of inadequate minimum wage levels. The Coalition consists of representatives from a variety social service, community, Aboriginal, labour and faith based organizations."
- incl. links to : News - Take Action - Just Income Facts - Coalition Partners - Other Organizations - Contact Info

Just Income Facts - a dozen articles and reports about minimum wages, with a special focus on Manitoba, from groups including Canadian Policy Research Networks, the Manitoba office of Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Manitoba Federation of Labour, etc.
Here are two recent samples:
Why Increase the Minimum Wage?
April 2003
"This article from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba discusses the social benefits of a strong minimum wage, and debunks myths about the effects on the business community."

Paid to be Poor:
Report of the 2005 Manitoba Low Wage Community Inquiry (PDF file - 2.2MB, 86 pages)
October 2005
"The Just Income Coalition sponsored a series of community hearings in Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson. A balanced, broadly-based panel of independent “listeners” heard the first-person stories of Manitobans affected by low wages — 34 low-income individuals, and 38 spokespersons for community organizations (unions, health and social services, faith leaders, etc.). For these hearings, the Coalition widened its focus beyond the minimum wage issue to include all workers in low wage employment. The majority of Manitoba’s low wage workers are women. The Panel heard from single mothers and couples, students and workers, Aboriginal people and immigrants, and those with disabilities and long-term illness. According to data purchased from the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, over one-quarter of the work force received less than a living wage ($10.25 per hour) in 2004. Just over 6 percent received the current minimum wage of $7.25 or less. This survey [see Appendix I] explodes the myth that most low wage employees are teenagers or single adults with no family responsibilities."

Press Release (PDF file - 111K, 2 pages)
October 5, 2005

Source:
Just Income Coalition (Manitoba)
"The Just Income Coalition formed in the fall of 2002 when a group of representatives from labour, human services, faith, women's, and Aboriginal organizations came together out of a shared concern over the inadequate minimum wage and its impact on low income Manitobans."

Related Link:

Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (SPCW)
NOTE: check the SPCW Resources and Links pages for dozens of online resources

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Canadian minimum wage rates an international disgrace : Caledon Institute report
paints a portrait of shocking exploitation by Canadian business and political leaders
Press Release
January 29, 2003
"Minimum wages in Canada are lower than they were 25 years ago, lower than in most industrialized countries and lower in most cases than in the United States, the unforgiving free- market bastion of the world, says a new study by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy. One of the worst offenders in Canada is the Tory government of Ontario, which has not raised its minimum wage rate of $6.85 for the past eight years."
Source:
National Union of Public and General Employees(NUPGE)

Related Links:

Minimum Wages in Canada: A Statistical Portrait with Policy Implications
Ken Battle
January 2003
This link takes you to a two-page abstract of the study and ordering info (Price: $24.95)
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy

Ontario’s Shrinking Minimum Wage (PDF file - 20K, 3 pages)
February 2003
"Ontario has seen a steady decline in the value of its minimum wage because the rate has been frozen at $6.85 for eight long years."
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy

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Fact sheet on minimum wage (PDF file - 99K, 6 pages)
September 2005
Did you know?
- last year, 621,000 individuals worked at or below the minimum wage rate set by their province (4.6% of all employees in Canada)
- Alberta had by far the lowest proportion of employees working at or below minimum wage (0.9%), while Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest (6.5%)
- women accounted for almost two-thirds of minimum wage workers, but less than half of all employees
- one in three teenagers aged 15 to 19 worked for minimum wage (this age group accounted for nearly half of all minimum wage workers)
- the incidence of working for minimum wage declined sharply with age but rose slightly among those 55 and older

Source:
Perspectives on labour and income (HINT: follow this link to dozens of free articles --- I guarantee you'll find something of interest to you here.)
[ Statistics Canada ]

Also from StatCan:

Study: Minimum-wage workers 2003
March 26, 2004
"Although minimum wage workers are often young people living with parents, others in this category are trying to support a family. To evaluate the effects of a change in the minimum wage, knowing who works for minimum wage and the types of jobs they hold is essential."
"In Canada, 1 in 25 employees worked at or below the minimum wage set by their province in 2003, but the incidence varied widely from province to province, according to a new profile of minimum-wage workers. This study, which used data from the Labour Force Survey, showed that nationally, some 547,000 people were minimum-wage workers in 2003."
Source:
The Daily
[ Statistics Canada ]

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Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives --- Search for "minimum wage"

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FastFacts: Manitoba's Minimum Wage? Be Realistic! - PDF file - 32K, 2 pages)
August 4, 2005
"A job at $10.00 per hour, with benefits and opportunities for advancement, would draw many into the labour force. Such jobs provide dignity and respect. A wage of $7.25 does not. Nor does it make economic sense."

Source:
Manitoba Office Publications
[ Manitoba Office ]
[ Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives ]

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Income Redistribution in Canada: Minimum Wages versus Other Policy Instruments
Nicole M. Fortin and Thomas Lemieux
Revised December 1998
Complete report (PDF file - 56 pages, 419K)
Source : Centre for Research on Economic and Social Policy (University of British Columbia)

Annual Minimum Wage Income* by Province, 1976 and 1995
(constant 1995$)

	1976	1995	% Change	Notes:
Newfoundland	14,615	9,880	-32%	* Assumes earners were employed 40 hours per week, 52 weeks of the year. In 1995 and 1996, the minimum wage was increased in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.These increases are reflected in the table. Source: Appendix B of Benefiting Canada's Children: Perspectives on Gender and Social Responsibility  Christa Freiler and Judy Cerny Child Poverty Action Group  March 1998 http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/pubs/0662634691/199803_0662634691_e.html
Prince Edward Island	14,031	9,880	-30%
Nova Scotia	14,615	10,712	-27%
New Brunswick	14,569	10,400	-29%
Quebec	16,573	12,480	-25%
Ontario	15,210	14,248	-6%
Manitoba	16,065	11,232	-30%
Saskatchewan	16,368	11,128	-32%
Alberta	15,851	10,400	-34%
British Columbia	17,537	14,560	-17%

Minimum-wage hikes must be routine - Ontario
Toronto Star Editorial
January 5, 2005
"People who earn the minimum wage in Ontario should not be the only ones celebrating the raise of 30 cents per hour that takes effect Feb. 1. The ripple effect through the local economy will likely be greater than from similar increases in any other job class. Certainly, minimum-wage earners have something to cheer. The new general rate of $7.45 still isn't a princely sum anywhere in Ontario in 2005, but it's a hike of more than four per cent on top of a similar 30-cent boost last year. It beats what happened in the nine years prior to 2004, when the rate stayed static."
Source:
The Toronto Star
NOTE : the general minimum wage in Ontario will rise twice again to reach $8 per hour in 2007.

International Minimum Wage Links (in reverse chronological order)

National minimum wage : report 2008 (PDF file - 1.5MB, 209 pages)
March 2008
Low Pay Commission, London
Geographical area : United Kingdom

The impact of minimum wage increases on single mothers - U.S. (PDF file - 604K, 31 pages)
By J. J. Sabia
September 2007
"(...)Taken together, the 1990s and early 2000s saw important economic changes for single mothers. Employment rates, work hours, and wage income rose, while poverty rates and welfare use declined. The evidence presented in this study suggests that while pro-work welfare reforms, a growing macro-economy, and expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit program may have each played a role in these positive economic trends, that minimum wage increases reduced less-educated single mothers’ employment, hours worked, and wage income, while failing to alleviate poverty. The results of this study should serve as a caution to policymakers who view minimum wage hikes as a way to help single mothers."
Source:
Employment Policies Institute - U.S.

Whoa.

Every now and then, it's important to remind ourselves that we're not all on the same team here, and that some of the guys on the other team out there in cyberspace tend to stretch or distort reality from time to time. I enthusiastically support open dialogue between supporters of differing viewpoints. What I object to is the misrepresentation of mission and objectives, as typified by the case of Rick Berman and the Employment Policies Institute.

Here's an excerpt from what SourceWatch* has to say about the Employment Policies Institute:

The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) is one of several front groups created by Berman & Co., a Washington, DC public affairs firm owned by Rick Berman, who lobbies for the restaurant, hotel, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries [bolding added]. (...) EPI has has been widely quoted in news stories regarding minimum wage issues, and although a few of those stories have correctly described it as a "think tank financed by business," most stories fail to provide any identification that would enable readers to identify the vested interests behind its pronouncements. Instead, it is usually described exactly the way it describes itself, as a "non-profit research organization dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding employment growth" that "focuses on issues that affect entry-level employment." In reality, EPI's mission is to keep the minimum wage low so Berman's clients can continue to pay their workers as little as possible [more bolding added]."
Source:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Employment_Policies_Institute

[ *SourceWatch is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. A primary purpose of SourceWatch is documenting the PR and propaganda activities of public relations firms and public relations professionals engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion and policy. SourceWatch also includes profiles on think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Over time, SourceWatch has broadened to include others involved in public debates including media outlets, journalists and government agencies." ]

CAVEAT:


The "About..." page of any website should *always* include clear statements concerning who is 'behind' the site, whether they're called sponsors, funders partners, supporters or whatever, and what the site hopes to accomplish. In the case of the EPI, there's no mention on their About Us page of the vested interests of the industries that stand most to gain from the information that EPI disseminates. To say that "EPI sponsors nonpartisan research..." is a blatant falsehood.

The Bottom Line:

Beware of websites that misrepresent themselves.
Ask questions.
Use SourceWatch

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If you want to read some *credible* U.S. research
on the American minimum wage, see this site:

Minimum Wage Issue Guide

Source:
Economic Policies Institute
The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy.

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Minimum Wage History, 1938-2008- from Oregon State University
- incl. four charts + some very interesting links at the bottom of the page to many useful resources, e.g., wealth and poverty links

. Characteristics of minimum wage workers : 2006 - U.S., (PDF file - 62K, 16 pages) Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, February 2007.

. The impact of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 and state minimum wage increases on US workers by race and ethnicity (PDF file - 1.28MB, 25 pages) R. J. Harrison, Y. Li and C. Gouveia, The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Washington, (2007)

National Minimum Wage (PDF file - 4.2MB, 389 pages)March 2007,Low Pay Commission, London.

Found in:
CERC Bulletin N°123, March 19, 2007
[ Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris ]

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The Bare Minimum
Op-Ed by Sarah Hamersma
March 8, 2007
BOTH the House of Representatives and the Senate have recently passed bills raising the minimum wage. The Senate bill includes tax breaks for businesses, based on the following logic: While a minimum wage increase is popular, the resulting higher labor costs will translate into fewer jobs, more expensive products or both. The solution, the senators concluded, was to subsidize companies that hire disadvantaged workers, in order to reimburse them for these higher wage costs. Does this reasoning hold up? A look at one of the key pieces of this business tax package — the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which has been in place since 1996 and would be extended for five years under the proposal — suggests otherwise.
Source:
Minimum wage (U.S.)
- links to over 600 news articles about minimum wage, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times

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Minimum Wages, Minimum Labour Costs and the Tax Treatment of Low-wage Employment (PDF file - 256K, 24 pages)
January 16, 2007
By Herwig Immervoll
International comparisons of minimum-wage levels have largely focused on the gross value of minimum wages, ignoring the effects of taxation on both labour costs and the net income of employees. This paper presents estimates of the tax burdens facing minimum-wage workers. These are used as a basis for cross-country comparisons of the net earnings of these workers as well as the cost of employing them. In addition, results show the evolution of net incomes and labour costs during the 2000-2005 period and the relative importance of minimum-wage adjustments and tax reforms in driving these changes.
(...) Statutory minimum wages are in place in 21 OECD countries [including Canada - text and bolding added], ranging between USD 0.7 and USD 10 per hour.
This paper is the working paper version of a chapter to appear in the 2007 edition of Taxing Wages, an annual OECD publication.
Source:
OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers <===links to 45 more papers!
[ Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs ]
[ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ]

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What's New from the Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris
Conseil de l'emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale - CERC[version française]

National minimum wage : report 2008 (PDF file - 1.5MB, 209 pages)
March 2008
Low Pay Commission, London
Geographical area : United Kingdom

Tax credits, the minimum wage and inflation (PDF file - 220K, 10 pages) E. Maag, The Urban Institute, Washington, Policy brief, tax policy, issues and options, n° 17
January 2007
Geographical area : United States

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Does a higher minimum wage mean fewer jobs? - Australia
August 21, 2006
The evidence doesn't support this simple equation, writes John Quiggin*.
The creation of the Fair Pay Commission as part of the government’s WorkChoices legislation has led to a debate about the role of minimum wages for Australian workers. Whereas the Industrial Relations Commission set award wages for most workers, the Fair Pay Commission focuses exclusively on minimum wages and conditions. (...) In thinking about minimum wages, it is [also] necessary to look at interactions with the social welfare system. For those with dependent children, minimum wages in Australia are only marginally higher, after tax, than the social welfare benefits paid to unemployed or disabled workers. Hence, a reduction in the minimum wage could create or intensify “poverty traps.” Advocates of substantial reductions in minimum wages have generally favored “reform” (usually unspecified) of the social welfare system. (...) It is important to remember that minimum wages represent only a small part of a coherent labour market policy. The primary focus must be on managing the tax–welfare system to achieve a more equitable distribution of income while generating incentives to work. Minimum wages should be set with the same goal in mind."
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*Author John Quiggin is an ARC Federation Fellow in Economics and Political Science at the University of Queensland.
His web site is at http://www.uq.edu.au/economics/johnquiggin and his weblog is at http://johnquiggin.com
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Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO)
With nearly 120 member centres and institutes, Australian Policy Online offers easy access to much of the best Australian social, economic, cultural and political research available online. APO is maintained by a network of university centres and over 120 centres and institutes around Australia.

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Economic Policy Institute (US) on Minimum Wage
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, October 11, five Nobel Prize winners and over 650 other economists endorsed a statement urging a raise in the minimum wage. The statement asserts that a modest raise in the minimum wage (in the range of a $1.00 to $2.50 per hour), with future increases indexed to protect the workers’ purchasing power, “can significantly improve the lives of low-income workers and their families, without the adverse effects that critics have claimed.”
- incl. links to two EPI articles on minimum wages
Posted October 28 by:
Andrew Jackson
Relentlessly Progressive Economics
"Commentary on Canadian economics and public policy"

Nine years of neglect : Federal minimum wage remains unchanged for ninth straight year, falls to lowest level in more than half a century (PDF file - 78K, 6 pages)
(United States), J. Bernstein and I. Shapiro, Washington, August 2006.
Source:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Economic Policy Institute

House Adopts Higher Minimum Wage, $310 Billion in Tax Cuts
July 29
"The House voted to boost the minimum wage for the first time since 1997 in Republican-backed legislation that also cuts $310 billion in taxes, largely by reducing a levy on multimillion-dollar estates. The minimum wage increase, and the inclusion of $38 billion in tax cuts that many Democrats support, were described by some Republicans as a bid to attract votes for the estate tax legislation when it reaches the Senate, where it has been rejected twice in the last month."
Source:
Bloomberg
(" Bloomberg is the leading global provider of data, news and analytics.")

NOTE: if passed by the U.S. Senate, the House measure would boost the federal minimum wage, now at $5.15 an hour, to $7.25 by June 1, 2009. Over 80% of the US population supports a minimum wage increase, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll.

Related Link:

COMPARING THE HOUSE MINIMUM WAGE AND ESTATE TAX PROPOSALS:
Who Benefits and By How Much?
July 28
by Joel Friedman and Aviva Aron-Dine
http://www.cbpp.org/7-28-06tax2.htm
http://www.cbpp.org/7-28-06tax2.pdf, 2pp.
Source:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington)

Google News Search Results:
"US, minimum wage"
Google Web Search Results:
"US, minimum wage"
Source:
Google.ca

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U.S. Minimum Wage Resources

UNHAPPY ANNIVERSARY:
Federal Minimum Wage Remains Unchanged for Eighth Straight Year, Falls to 56-Year Low Relative to the Average Wage
"September 1 marks eight years since the last federal minimum wage increase. In that time, its purchasing power has fallen 17 percent. Compared to average private sector wages, the minimum wage has sunk to its lowest point since 1949."

Unhappy Anniversary, a new report by Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and Isaac Shapiro, associate director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, examines the shrunken state of the minimum wage.
September 1, 2005

HTML version:
http://www.cbpp.org/9-1-05mw.htm
PDF version:
http://www.cbpp.org/9-1-05mw.pdf, 5pp

Source:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Related Link:

Raising the National Minimum Wage: Information, Opinion, Research - U.S., international
This is the personal web of Brock Haussamen, an English professor at Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, New Jersey. The site's purpose is "to provide those concerned about the federal minimum wage with an organized guide to the different sides of the issue". Professor Haussamen's position can be found on the Indexing page of his site --- he supports indexing the minimum wage. [So do I for Canada, applying the same logic to Canadian minimum wages.]
- incl. links to : Basics - The Case For - The Case Against - Indexing - Research - U. S. - Other Countries - Contact Me

New CDF Report: Millions of Children Would Benefit From an Increase in the Minimum Wage - U.S.
Press Release
May 18 2005
"In the report, titled Increasing the Minimum Wage: An Issue of Children's Well-Being , the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) shows that, in 2004, 9.7 million children lived in a household with at least one worker earning between $5.15 and $7.25 per hour. A parent supporting two children and w orking full time at the current minimum wage of $5.15 would end up with an annual salary $4,500 below the poverty line . The pernicious sting of poverty puts these children at greater risk of poor health due to lack of affordable health care, increases their likelihood of falling behind in school and leaves families unable to pay for adequate housing, nutritious food or quality child care."

Complete report:

Increasing the Minimum Wage: An Issue of Children's Well-Being (PDF file - 124K, 5 pages)

Source:
Children's Defense Fund

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From the US Dept. of Labor:

Minimum Wage Laws in the States - clickable map, current levels

Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2004
April 5, 2005
- incl. 10 tables with characteristics of minimum wage workers in 2004 ("Employed wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage, 2004 annual averages: 1. by selected characteristics 2. by census region and division 3. by State 4. by major occupation group 5. by major industry group 6. by educational attainment 7. by age and sex 8. by marital status, age, and sex 9. by usual hours worked per week 10. by sex (1979-2004 annual averages)
Source:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
[ U.S. Department of Labor ]

Minimum Wages in the U.S.
- Federal - $5.15 since Sept. 1, 1997
- Minimum Wage Laws in the States (clickable map for all U.S. territories, showing which states use lower, higher or the same minimum wage levels as the federal amount)
Source :
U.S. Department of Labor

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Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
"EPI works to strengthen democracy by providing people with the tools to participate in the public discussion on the economy, believing that such participation will result in economic policies that better reflect the public interest. (...) EPI was established in 1986 to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers. Today, with global competition expanding, wage inequality rising, and the methods and nature of work changing in fundamental ways, it is as crucial as ever that people who work for a living have a voice in the economic debate."

EPI issue guides:
- living wage - minimum wage - offshoring - poverty and family budgets - retirement security - social security - unemployment insurance - welfare

Minimum Wage - 40+ links to publications, tables, charts and other online resources
Living Wage - 30+ links
Poverty Measurement and Basic Family Budgets - 30+ links

No Longer Getting By--An Increase in the Minimum Wage Is Long Overdue
May 11, 2004
EPI Briefing Paper #151
"The minimum wage is a direct and proven method to increase the earnings of the working poor and to prevent market forces from depressing wages to an unacceptably low level."

The Who and Why of the Minimum Wage: Raising the wage floor is an essential part
of a strategy to support working families (PDF file - 28K, 7 pages)
EPI Issue Brief
August 6, 2004
By Jeff Chapman and Michael Ettlinger

States move on minimum wage
Federal inaction forces states to raise wage floor to protect low-wage workers
June 11, 2003 - Issue Brief #195
"The president and Congress are poised to beat an embarrassing record currently held by their predecessors of the 1980s—eight years without raising the minimum wage. Each year the federal government fails to act, minimum wage workers pay the price, as the rising cost of living erodes the value of their paycheck."

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From the Employment Policies Institute *:

Wage Growth Among Minimum Wage Workers (PDF file - 442K, 25 pages)
June 2004
This study shows "that wage growth among minimum wage employees is actually quite robust. Using over two decades of Current Population Survey (CPS) data, these authors dispel the notion that minimum wage employees are dependent on government policies to increase their wages. The authors also examine the factors that lead to wage growth and find that higher education and job training along with a strong labor market are significant contributing factors."

Helping low-wage Americans : Wage-based tax credits.
A new solution to an age-old problem (PDF file - 570K, 30 pages)
May 2004
Washington
Summary (below) by CERC (Bulletin N°52)
"(...) The near-universal conclusion of decades of economic research is that minimum wage increases diminish total employment and destroy opportunities for entry-level employees. Moreover, most of the benefits associated with minimum wage hikes accrue to non-poor families. The EITC, in contrast, increases poor Americans’ income and work-effort, without destroying job opportunities.(...)"
[NOTE: for the complete summary of the wage-based tax credits paper, click the Bulletin N°52 link]

More on the Minimum Wage from the Employment Policies Institute

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Minimum wages, labor market institutions and youth employment : a cross-national analysis (PDF file - 1100K, 38 pages)
June 2003
Washington
Finance and economics discussion series, n° 2003-23
"We estimate the employment effects of changes in national minimum wages using a pooled cross-section time-series data set comprising 17 OECD countries for the period 1975-2000, focusing on the impact of cross-country differences in minimum wage systems and in other labor market institutions and policies that may either offset or amplify the effects of minimum wages."
- Canada is included among the 17 countries studied.
Source : Federal Reserve Board

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The Effects of Higher Minimum Wages on Welfare Recipiency: Another Look - U.S.
Mark D. Turner, Alena Bicakova
February 2003
Abstract
"This paper analyzes the effect of an increase in the minimum wage on welfare participation. (...) Consistent with some earlier research, we found that higher minimum wages reduce welfare spell lengths. In contrast to our initial hypothesis, we found consistent empirical evidence that long-term welfare recipients were more likely to leave the welfare following a minimum wage increase than otherwise similar short-term recipients."
Download full paper (PDF file - 90K, 25 pages)
Source : Joint Center for Policy Research (Illinois)

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Real Value of the federal minimum wage in the U.S., 1956-2003
"The real value of today's minimum wage is 30% below its peak in 1968, and 24% below its level in 1979"
Source:
Step up, not out - The case for raising the federal minimum wage for workers in every state
February 7, 2001 - Issue Brief #149
Economic Policy Institute

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Minimum Wage
- from the Almanach of Policy Issues

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Economic Success Clearinghouse (formerly Welfare Information Network)
Minimum Wage/Living Wage Page
- almost 200 links to content relating to minimum wage and living wage in the U.S.

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The Effects of Higher Minimum Wages on Welfare Recipiency: Another Look (PDF file - 158K, 24 pages)
by Mark Turner and Alena Bicakova
February 2003
[Adobe PDF file dated March 20/03]
Source : Joint Center for Poverty Research (Northwestern University / University of Chicago)

Living Wage A living wage ordinance requires employers to pay wages that are above federal or state minimum wage levels. Only a specific set of workers are covered by living wage ordinances, usually those employed by businesses that have a contract with a city or county government or those who receive economic development subsidies from the locality. The rationale behind the ordinances is that city and county governments should not contract with or subsidize employers who pay poverty-level wages. Living Wage Resource Center - What you will find here is a brief history of the national living wage movement, background materials such as ordinance summaries and comparisons, drafting tips, research summaries, talking points, and links to other living wage-related sites. Source : Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) NOTE: do a search using http://www.google.ca/ and type in "living wage"- you'll find links to thousands of sites, including those of a number of American cities that have passed a living wage ordinance to help low-income families. More living wage links: http://www.cfpa.org/issues/issue.cfm/issue/LivingWage.xml http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_wage http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/issueguides_livingwage_livingwage http://www.livingwagecampaign.org/ Living Wage and Earned Income Tax Credit: A Comparative Analysis (PDF file, 960K, 38 pages) January 2003 Living Wages and Minimum Wages - from Labor Studies Links (George Washington University, Washington D.C.) Economic Success Clearinghouse (formerly Welfare Information Network) Minimum Wage/Living Wage Page - almost 200 links to content relating to minimum wage and living wage in the U.S. From Poverty Wages to a Living Wage (PDF file - 764K, 34 pages) Christopher Schenk Ontario Federation of Labour November 2001 "Some economists argue that raising the minimum wage will kill low wage jobs, hurting the very people it was intended to assist by pricing them out of the job market. Still others, primarily concerned with poverty and inequality, see raising the minimum wage as an important policy tool for eliminating poverty and promoting equality." - A joint initiative of the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Centre for Social Justice Foundation for Research and Education Living Wage - from EPI online.org Employment Policies Institute - "...dedicated to studying entry-level employment issues" [NOTE: see the commentary about the EPI in SourceWatch] ------------------------- The Effects of Living Wage Laws: Evidence from Failed and Derailed Living Wage Campaigns (PDF file 412K, 37 pages) - U.S. April 2005 By Scott Adams, David Neumark Institute for the Study of Labor S. Adams and D. Neumark, Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, IZA discussion paper, n° 1566, April, 21 p., (2005). "Summary : Living wage campaigns have succeeded in about 100 jurisdictions in the United States but have also been unsuccessful in numerous cities. These unsuccessful campaigns provide a better control group or counterfactual for estimating the effects of living wage laws than the broader set of all cities without a law, and also permit the separate estimation of the effects of living wage laws and living wage campaigns. We find that living wage laws raise wages of low-wage workers but reduce employment among the least-skilled, especially when the laws cover business assistance recipients or are accompanied by similar laws in nearby cities." Source: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Bonn (Germany)

The First Congress of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network: Fundamental Insecurity or Basic Income Guarantee?
March 8-9, 2002, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York
- incl.links to 35 papers on guaranteed annual income ("basic income") presented at this Congress
Source : U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG)

Advocates for Self-Government - the website of the American Libertarianism movement. This organization would privatize welfare and repeal all permits, licensing, zoning and labor laws because "they all stop people who want to work, especially minorities. (...) Private charity is more compassionate and delivers the goods better than the government welfare plantation."

International Minimum Wage Resources

‘New Deal' Need For Low Paid: Minimum Wage Won't Solve The Problem
News Release
October 22, 2004
"The National Minimum Wage and Government tax credits will not be enough to solve the problem of poverty pay, a new report warns today."

Complete report:
Why Worry Any More about the Low Paid?” (PDF file - 647K, 51 pages)
"(...) The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is too low to ensure that employees are free of poverty without means-tested support – 'at £4.85 the NMW falls short of that level even for a single adult working full time'."

Source:
Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion
"This site monitors what is happening to poverty and social exclusion in the UK and complements our annual monitoring reports. The material is organised around 50 statistical indicators covering all aspects of the subject, from income and work to health and education."

Related Link:

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

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The big bite ! Why it’s time for the minimum wage to really work, (pdf, 46 p.)
Submission to the Low Pay Commission by Unison and YMCA England, London,
November 2004

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Fighting "low equilibria" by doubling the minimum wage ? Hungary’s experiment (PDF file, 44 pages)
December 2003
Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn
"Summary : In January 2001 the Hungarian government increased the minimum wage from Ft 25,500 to Ft 40,000. One year later the wage floor rose further to Ft 50,000. The paper looks at the short-run impact of the first hike on small-firm employment and flows between employment and unemployment. It finds that the hike significantly increased labor costs and reduced employment in the small firm sector; and adversely affected the job retention and job finding probabilities of low-wage workers. While the conditions for a positive employment effect were mostly met in depressed regions spatial inequalities were amplified rather than reduced."

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Low Pay Commission (United Kingdom)
"The Low Pay Commission (LPC) was established as a result of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 to advise the Government about the National Minimum Wage. On 19 March 2003 the Commission's fourth report was published.
A full copy is available here in PDF format (1.15MB)
The Commission has issued a Press Notice about its recommendations.
National Minimum Wage rates are currently £4.20 per hour for those aged 22 and over (the adult rate) and £3.60 per hour for those aged 18 - 21 (the development Rate). The Development Rate can also apply to workers aged 22 and over during the first six months in a new job with a new employer who are receiving accredited training. The Government has accepted the Commission's recommendation that in October 2003 these rates should be increased to £4.50 and £3.80 respectively. It has also accepted our recommendation that - subject to confirmation in early 2004 - there should be further increases to £4.85 and £4.10 in October 2004."

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Minimum Wage - from the Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion (Paris)
- this site offers a wealth of information about minimum wages in France, Europe, OECD countries (Canada and U.S. included!)
- extensive collection of information organized under the following headings: Legislation and implementation - Facts and figures - Minimum wage and employment - Minimum wage and wage formation - Minimum wage and living standard - Discussion
Recommended Websites - links to minimum wage sites and content from: FRANCE - GERMANY - BELGIUM - SPAIN - IRELAND - THE NETHERLANDS - UNITED KINGDOM - UNITED STATES - CANADA - INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
Source:
Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion
Conseil de l'emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale [version française]
"The Council is to contribute to the knowledge on income, social inequalities and links between employment, income and social cohesion. It is also up to the Cerc to draw up appraisals about social inequalities and redistribution mechanisms as well as to draw the government's attention and the public opinion to desirable changes and evolutions. The Cerc is to publish periodically a report on changes concerning employment, income and social cohesion, as well as specific reports dealing with issues within its field of expertise. These specific reports are initiated by the Council itself or at the request of the Prime minister."

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