The Effect of Increasing Minimum Wage at a City-Wide Level on the Enrollment in Public Assistance Programs

Abstract

This study examines the effect of increasing minimum wage at a city-wide level on the enrollment in means-tested public assistance programs. I exploit San Francisco’s minimum wage increases in 2011 and 2012 and use data from IPUMS-CPS to estimate the effect on welfare programs. Using a linear probability model and a difference-in-difference estimation, my analysis suggests that San Francisco’s minimum wage increases have a positive effect on the enrollment of welfare programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid and is statistically significant.