Catherwood LibraryILR School

In a 145-page study of forty cities with living wage laws---scheduled to be released today by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California---outspoken minimum wage increase opponent David Neumark concludes that living wage laws are in fact reducing poverty. Since 1994 when Baltimore adopted the first living wage law, approximately 80 living wage laws have been passed by cities and counties across the country (see WIT for May 25, 2001)---almost always over extreme opposition by business and employer groups (see WIT for Dec. 06, 2001). While conservatives and business groups are already questioning the study Neumark has asserted that although he is not convinced that living wage laws are necessarily the best way to reduce poverty, they do help the poor and there is no scientific basis for opposing them.