Estimation of health benefits from a local living wage ordinance

The inverse relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, which has been extensively documented,(1-6) may be mediated by material, behavioral, psychosocial, or physiologic pathways. (2.7-9) Income is a widely used dimension of SES that at lower levels predicts poor health and premature death, whether measured at the individual or at the aggregate level.(10-13) Increasing the federal minimum wage is one means of limiting income poverty in the United States. Indeed, many municipalities in the United States have increased the minimum wage for certain sectors of the local labor force by establishing local "living wage" laws. In contrast to the national minimum wage, a living wage generates an income sufficient to meet subsistence needs such as food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and child care.(14.15) San Francisco's legislative board recently considered adopting a living wage of $11 per hour for workers of the city's contractors and property leaseholders. We estimated the magnitude of the anticipated health improvement associated with this legislation.