Minimum Wages and Homelessness
Abstract
America’s cities continue to struggle with homelessness.
Here I offer a factor, the minimum wage, that adds to existing individual and structural explanations. If there are negative distributional consequences of minimum wages, they most likely harm the lowest-skill workers many of whom already face housing insecurity.
To evaluate this argument, I study minimum wage changes in American cities and states 2006 to 2019. Using difference-in-differences methods for staggered treatments I find that minimum wage increases lead to increased point-in-time homeless population counts.
Further analysis suggests disemployment and rental housing prices, but not migration, as mechanisms. Scholars and policymakers who aim to understand and combat homelessness should consider labor market opportunities. Distributional consequences of minimum wage laws also merit further inquiry.
On the North River 
Put bluntly, the true minimum wage has always been zero.
I started working during high school at 14 y.o., minimum wage. I learned what a job was, as opposed to doing chores for an allowance. After I gained a little experience I got a raise, because I, now, was worth it. Young people today are being denied that opportunity, because the minimum wage is too high. Mandated by government decree.
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One must wonder if it will ever occur to the masses that no entity can cause more problems than government officials fixing problems that don’t exist…and creating problems that shouldn’t.
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Government wage controls cause inflation, unemployment, and it seems homelessness.
Government price controls cause scarcity, bankruptcy, and again homelessness.
I see a pattern.
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Drugs. Drugs cause homelessness. Those that are homeless and not on drugs are mentally ill. Drugs cause and/or exacerbate mental illness. You cannot blame the government. But you will/do.
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You see no fault in the governments handling of the homeless mentally ill?
Well if that’s your opinion, you’re entitled to it.
Before we had such an extreme drug problem we had a lot of alcoholics who worked minimum wage jobs and spent the money on booze and cheap flops.
Government regulation eliminated the flops and higher mandated minimum wages and illegal immigration cost a lot of alkies their jobs, since they weren’t able to compete.
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