The Australian Fair Pay Commission is presently tendering for a consultancy to answer three questions:
- Who is subject to the federal minimum wage?
- What are the individual characteristics of employees covered by the federal minimum wage?
- What are the household characteristics of employees covered by the federal minimum wage?
Tenders close 2 June. It’s not on their website, but if anyone’s interested, I’m happy to send you the PDF.
I had a shot at answeringÂ these questions last year. Here’s what I found:
Does Raising the Minimum Wage Help the Poor?
What is the impact of raising the minimum wage on family incomes? Analysing the characteristics of low wage workers, I find that those who earn near-minimum wages are disproportionately female, unmarried and young, without post-school qualifications and overseas born. About one-third of near-minimum wage workers are the sole worker in their household. Due to low labour force participation rates in the poorest households, minimum wage workers are most likely to be in middle-income households. Using various plausible parameters for the effect of minimum wages on hourly wages and employment, I estimate the impact of a minimum wage rise on inequality.