Coupling Minimum Wage Hikes with Public Investments to Make Work Pay and Reduce Poverty

Minimum wage laws emerged from the Progressive Era as a policy approach to protecting workers and families from destitution and hardship. Modern minimum wage proponents echo these arguments, but opponents counter with evidence of the policy’s modest to null poverty-reducing effects. We describe two specific reasons why the anti-poverty effects of the minimum wage may be dampened: First,

The International Conference on Population Geographies is a biennial gathering of population geographers, spatial demographers and others interested in presenting papers and sharing ideas on spatial population issues.  The previous three conferences were held in Brisbane, 2015, Groningen, 2013, and Umeå, 2011; others date back to the mid 1990s.  Registration at the most recent events was around 200, with attendees from the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The conference website provides an overview of the event and a link to...

Anna Zamora-Kapoor–CSDE Affiliate, Assistant Research Professor at IREACH, and Affiliate Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at UW–recently published work on breastfeeding and its link to BMI in adolescence across racial divides. The study found that the length of breastfeeding was inversely associated with BMI in adolescence in American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and non-Hispanic Whites. This newly uncovered link between breastfeeding and lower mean BMI has significant implications for those attempting to reduce BMI in various ethnic groups.

Bob Plotnick, UW professor of public policy and governance and former CSDE Director, was recently featured in a discussion about Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s proposed carbon tax.  The tax aims to reduce the region’s environmental impact by taxing gasoline and use of other fossil fuels, although such taxes often have additional effects. Plotnick observes that the plan will disproportionately affect the poor, given the demographic group’s heavier reliance on private transportation. The governor’s office acknowledged this unintended impact and is currently brainstorming ways to counteract it.