Can a higher minimum wage save lives by reducing suicides?
Could an increase in the minimum wage save American lives and make them longer in the process?
The answer appears to be yes.
New research reveals that when U.S. states raised the minimum wage by a single dollar, suicide rates fell among residents clustered around the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder.
And the higher the unemployment rate, the stronger the link. When a state's jobless rate topped 6.5%, a $1 boost in the minimum wage was followed by a roughly 6% drop in the suicide rate among working-age adults with a high school degree or less - in other words, among those most likely to work in minimum-wage jobs.
But even in
