Thesis
Essays on the impact of UK National Living Wage policy : insights into health, wellbeing, and informal caregiving
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2023
- Thesis identifier
- T16805
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 202073809
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Minimum wage remains a contentious policy issue with far-reaching implications for workers’ health, quality of life and the overall economy. This thesis contributes to the literature on the effects of minimum wage policy on public health by exploring the 2016 UK National Living Wage policy (NLW) and its subsequent annual upratings. In three self-contained but related essays, we employ data from the Understanding Society longitudinal household survey, and applied econometrics and quasi-experimental methods, to objectively consider the effects of NLW on health and wellbeing, considering the policy interactions with in-work social security benefits freeze and unpaid caregiving.The first essay begins with analyses of the association between income and different trajectories of income on self-reported health and wellbeing. We employed a fixed-effects ordered logit model which allows us to account for unobserved heterogeneity and time-invariant factors that may bias the estimated results. We show that income is a significant predictor of health and wellbeing. Also, our extended analyses show that stability and volatility in income are important determinants of self-reported health and wellbeing outcomes, while higher spells of low income increased the odds of reporting poor self-reported health and wellbeing outcomes. We also confirm a significant difference in the income and health nexus before and after the introduction of the NLW in 2016.The second essay employs recent developments in the difference-in-differences methods literature to investigate the mental health effects of the NLW. We employ the longitudinal hourly wage and age data in the Understanding Society survey to identify individuals that are eligible and received the NLW. We find that the NLW policy has a positive average treatment effect on affected workers’ mental health. We additionally consider the effects of the simultaneous introduction of a four-year freeze to in-work welfare support benefits. We find no evidence of improvements in mental health for individuals affected by the welfare benefits freeze policy, indicating that the negative impact of the benefits freeze policy constricts the NLW impacts. These findings suggest that wages increase through minimum wage and social security supports are complementary and should not be treated as alternatives. The overall prospects of reducing poverty and generating liveable income for working individuals may be more effective with their combination rather than substituting one for the other.The third essay extends the evaluation of the NLW to informal caregiving by considering the effects on unpaid carers’ work hours and health. While minimum wage is a focal point in shaping labour markets, addressing income inequality and social welfare, little attention has been given to understanding their influence on informal carers workforce. The informal care sector has a dual influence on labour supply and overall health and long-term care. We begin the empirical analysis by estimating the effects of becoming an informal carer, and we note a significant decline in work hours with negative average treatment effects on physical health. However, while the overall average treatment effects of becoming an informal carer on work hours is negative, receiving the NLW makes a positive difference for informal carers’ work hours but a null effect on health outcomes. The findings suggest differences in informal carers reactions to the NLW. While there is an overall decrease in work hours as a result of being unpaid carers, some carers increase their work hours following the NLW increase. By providing robust empirical evidence, this chapter underscores the potential role of the minimum wage as a tool to promote public health and well-being, especially for vulnerable populations in the labour market. Overall, the thesis contributes to the significance of wage policies to harmonise economic growth and advance public health and social equity, thereby contributing to a path of sustainable and inclusive development.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Morton, Alec
- Lenhart, Otto
- Resource Type
- DOI
Relations
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