A Re-examination of the Impact of the UK National Minimum Wage on Employment

Richard Dickens, Rebecca Riley and David Wilkinson

Working Paper Series from Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School

Abstract: A general consensus has emerged that while the UK National Minimum Wage (NMW) raised the pay of low wage workers it did little to harm their employment prospects. This is in contrast to the US and other countries where a debate over minimum wage effects still rages on. We re-examine the evidence on the introduction of the NMW and look at subsequent increases through the recession focusing on several groups in the labour market. We find a reduction in employment retention among part-time female workers, the group which is most affected by the NMW. These effects deepen in the recession.

Keywords: Minimum Wage; Employment; Wages; Recession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J08 J31 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Journal Article: A Re-examination of the Impact of the UK National Minimum Wage on Employment (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sus:susewp:4612

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