Health at a Living Wage: Evidence from Natural Experiments
The goal of this project is to assess the effects of living wage (LW) policies on the health and wellbeing of low-income adults. The investigators leverage natural experiments in LW policy adoption across metro areas in two population-based, longitudinal studies: the Community Tracking Study and the CARDIA Cohort Study. Evidence generated can inform municipal policy reforms (e.g. city-wide minimum wage) that are gaining significant traction across cities as a means to improve equity in living and working conditions for their populations. The project will also demonstrate the feasibility of placing health as a front-and-center objective for social and economic policy.
Registered on Open Science Framework (OSF): osf.io/ha4v3.
Health & well-being: material and psychological well-being; allostatic load biomarkers; self-rated health status; BMI; and smoking, drinking, and dietary behavior
Other: Medical care access
Difference-in-difference-in-differences design to generate quasi-experimental, intention-to-treat estimates of LW policy effects.
Mustafa Hussein, PhD
$ 247,406 & 24 months