Monday, July 15, 2019

Important Report on the Impact of the Minimum Wage on the Social Safety Net

From our colleagues at Keystone Research Center/PA Budget and Policy Center
July 9

As Pennsylvania seriously considers raising the minimum wage for the first time in over a decade, concerns have been raised that workers receiving a higher wage also will face a “benefits cliff.” A benefits cliff occurs when individuals get a wage increase but the social benefits they lose and the taxes they pay increase more than their additional earnings, resulting in an overall reduction in a family’s standard of living. This brief explores that claim.