Raising The Minimum Wage By $1 May Prevent Thousands Of Suicides, Study Shows

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/08/794568118/raising-the-minimum-wage-by-1-may-prevent-thousands-of-suicides-study-shows

January 8, 20205:03 PM ET
Graison Dangor

A new study suggests that raising the minimum wage might lower the suicide rate — especially when unemployment is high — and that doing so might have saved tens of thousands of people from dying by suicide in the last quarter century.

The minimum federal minimum wage is $7.25, though many states have set it higher. Between 1990 and 2015, raising the minimum wage by $1 in each state might have saved more than 27,000 lives, according to a report published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. An increase of $2 in each state's minimum wage could have prevented more than 57,000 suicides.

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Crucially, researchers found that raising the minimum wage appears to reduce the suicide rate more when it's harder to find a job. In bad times, the same $1 increase could save more people than it might during good times.

"The higher unemployment is, the stronger that potential protective effect appears to be," says Kaufman.

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