Increasing minimum wage is linked to decreasing underweight in women in low-income countries

What is it about?

This article is about the role of a social protection policy in influencing a woman's nutritional status, either underweight or obesity. A person's income level is strongly linked with their health, but there is little research on macro-level factors such as minimum wage levels in a region, or country. Using advanced statistical techniques and a large data set from 24 low-income countries, this study shows that a $10 rise in monthly minimum wage levels would result in significantly fewer underweight women.

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Why is it important?

This is the first longitudinal multi-country study to contribute to understanding the policy levers that could affect the double nutritional burden phenomena of underweight and obesity in populations from low-income countries. Our study provides novel evidence on how a very small increase in minimum wage that is unlikely to be noticed by global markets can affect health.