In Seattle, the increase in the minimum wage had a limited but measurable impact on food assistance for low-income workers. Researchers analyzed the effects of this rise on participation in the nutritional assistance program, which supports more than 40 million Americans by providing financial aid to buy food. Contrary to expectations, the measure did not reduce the number of beneficiaries, but it did lead to a moderate decrease in the amounts allocated.<\/p>\n
The results show that benefits decreased by at most 4.3% for workers in low-paying jobs, compared to the situation before the new legislation was implemented. This reduction mainly affected young people aged 18 to 24 and women. For the latter, the decrease in assistance was offset by an increase in income, which helped maintain or even improve their overall financial situation. Workers receiving the highest benefits before the reform were the most affected by this reduction, but again, the increase in their wages mitigated the negative impact.<\/p>\n
The study focused on workers living in households with children, a particularly vulnerable group. The data used comes from detailed administrative records, which avoids biases related to self-reporting by participants. The researchers compared the evolution of assistance in Seattle with that of other regions in the state of Washington where the minimum wage had not increased. This approach confirmed that the observed changes were indeed linked to the local policy.<\/p>\n
The analysis also reveals that the wage increases were significant for the workers concerned, with an average income increase of nearly 8%. This progress often sufficed to offset the reduction in benefits or even improve households’ total income. For example, for women, the combination of wages and benefits increased by an average of $244 per quarter, or about $18.77 per week.<\/p>\n
The effects vary by group. Young workers saw their benefits decrease by $59 per quarter, or about 4%, while benefiting from a slight increase in their income. Older workers and men, on the other hand, experienced less pronounced changes. The results suggest that the minimum wage increase mainly benefited those who were already receiving modest assistance, allowing them to reduce their dependence on social benefits.<\/p>\n
This study sheds new light on the interactions between minimum wage policies and social assistance programs. It shows that, in some cases, an increase in income can reduce the need for public assistance without depriving households of essential resources. However, it remains to be evaluated how these dynamics evolve in a context where the cost of living, particularly housing, continues to rise faster than wages.<\/p>\n
DOI:<\/strong> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11150-026-09859-9<\/a><\/p>\n Title:<\/strong> Minimum wage increases and SNAP participation: evidence from Seattle\u2019s minimum wage ordinance<\/p>\n Journal:<\/strong> Review of Economics of the Household<\/p>\n Publisher:<\/strong> Springer Science and Business Media LLC<\/p>\n Authors:<\/strong> Callie Freitag; Heather D. Hill; Elizabeth Pelletier; Scott W. Allard; Jennifer Romich<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Minimum Wage Increase Slightly Reduces Food Assistance Without Affecting Access In Seattle, the increase in the minimum wage had a limited but measurable impact on food assistance for low-income workers. Researchers analyzed the effects of this rise on participation in the nutritional assistance program, which supports more than 40 million Americans by providing financial… Continue reading A Minimum Wage Increase Slightly Reduces Food Assistance Without Affecting Access<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36,"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/economicsfoundation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}