@article {Romich22, author = {Jennifer Romich and Heather D. Hill}, title = {Coupling a Federal Minimum Wage Hike with Public Investments to Make Work Pay and Reduce Poverty}, volume = {4}, number = {3}, pages = {22--43}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.7758/RSF.2018.4.3.02}, publisher = {RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences}, abstract = {For more than a century, advocates have promoted minimum wage laws to protect workers and their families from poverty. Opponents counter that the policy has, at best, small poverty-reducing effects. We summarize the evidence and describe three factors that might dampen the policy{\textquoteright}s effects on poverty: imperfect targeting, heterogeneous labor market effects, and interactions with income support programs. To boost the poverty-reducing effects of the minimum wage, we propose increasing the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour and temporarily expanding an existing employer tax credit. This is a cost-saving proposal because it relies on regulation and creates no new administrative functions. We recommend using those savings to {\textquotedblleft}make work pay{\textquotedblright} and improve upward mobility for low-income workers through lower marginal tax rates.}, issn = {2377-8253}, URL = {https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/4/3/22}, eprint = {https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/4/3/22.full.pdf}, journal = {RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences} }