Minimum wage and suicide link

Minimum wage and suicide link

NIMHD-Funded Study Identifies Effects of Minimum Wage Policies on Suicide Rates

This groundbreaking study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, is the first work to estimate how the unemployment rate modifies the relationship between state minimum wage polices and suicide rates in the United States.

Researchers used difference-in-differences methods to estimate the effect of an increased minimum wage on the suicide rate among adults aged 18 to 64 during the period from 1990 to 2015. They found that minimum wage increases appear to reduce the suicide rate among those with a high school education or less, with the largest effects observed during periods of higher unemployment levels.