Solving Honduras Poverty through Minimum Wage The paper ought to examine the different perspective and effects concerning the reduction of poverty with the aid of the legislative policy tool of controlling vis-à-vis increasing the minimum wage.
As can be extracted from the trends of economics along with the various experiences that the global economy has been experiencing, the legislation concerning minimum wage affects the relocation of income to workers who only receive low wages. This policy tool can help in assuring workers to receive a higher minimum wage which would obviously create or result to higher family income to these workers.
This policy have been utilize and devised mainly to help the third world countries to compete in the Global market. On the other hand, there have been proposals and issues in Central America, regarding this matter.
There are even suggestions to further reduce the minimum wage or even eliminate it if possible in order to provide a more competitive and flexible market. This paper would look at this argument and apply it in the complex situation of Honduras economy where in self employed individuals and those who are considered as civil servants are not affected by minimum wage changes. The difference between the minimum wage in Honduras and in first world economies such as the United States and countries in Europe would also be discussed.
The presentation of available data's concerning the differences in minimum wages in these countries shall bring fort other factors which affects the consequences of setting minimum wages in different countries. The paper would further discuss the difference between countries economies in order to create a better view on the relation of globalization and global competition to the wages and labor conditions of countries, focusing on its relative effects in Honduras and the United States.
The paper would also have a reflection on the studies made by Gindling and Terrell (2007) showing that minimum wage legislation has not reduce the poverty level in Honduras.
The discussions in this paper shall be related to the theoretical models, surveys and data's that have been collected as of June 2007. The Minimum Wage: The New Deal Strategy There have been several ongoing debates concerning the utility of the legislation of minimum wage.
Those who believe that minimum wage would reduce poverty argued that, the regulation would only be effective and would only concern those who are in the formal sectors, thus, it does not or it is not meant to guarantee any positive impact on the people who are working in the informal sector. Those who argue against minimum wage believe that the close competition that exists today in the global market would require governments to create an attractive business milieu for investors as much as possible.
This would mean that most government, especially those who are considered as "developing countries" would impose lower minimum wages or would even consider its abolition.
(Lee, 2002) Briefly, the minimum wage is a legislated law that controls the minimum amount of payment that a worker shall receive for his/her performance.
Minimum wage legislation are created in order to protect the low-wage workers from possible exploitation, since these workers are usually unskilled laborers and mostly uneducated or have little education. Upon insuring that these workers would be guaranteed with a minimum wage, poverty would also be alleviated or avoided.
In setting minimum wage, the person's daily living standards and the purchasing power are computed, to ensure that it would be economically beneficial and fair for the workers. The development of minimum wage laws started in most first world countries, such as New Zealand and Great Britain.
In United States, it started on 1937 when it was proposed by President Roosevelt as a legislative tool that shall reduce or eliminate any possible exploitation of the economic class who has been defenseless since they are in an unequal position with the higher class. The law aims to protect the health and well-being of the working class.
This was popularly known as the "New Deal Strategy" which shall remedy the effects of the Great Depression.
The approved minimum wage during those times was $.25 per hour.
(essay from client) Yet the opponents of this law appeal that minimum wage would definitely heightens the poverty that are being experience especially by the low-wage workers.
As more and more of this workers are laid off from their jobs because companies are taking cost-cutting measures to answer the increase in minimum wages. Factors affecting Change in Minimum Wage First thing that shall be considered in applying minimum wage is the person/s that would be affected by such changes.
The labor market must be considered since more competitive markets tend to create higher unemployment rate. The demand for labor would determine the amount of person that shall be displaced with respect to the implementation of minimum wage increase or decrease. The effect of minimum wage changes on the workers which are not covered with minimum wage shall also be considered.
Since those who lose the job in the minimum wage covered sector would produce an increase in the available supply of labor in the sector that was not covered such as those who are self-employed. The third factor concerns the worker's family income.
Since the minimum wage is meant to reduce poverty, its effects must reduce poverty.
However, the low-wage workers which are affected by the minimum wage might not belong to families in the poverty line or the low-income families. Thus, if this is the case, increasing the minimum wage, might only increase the gap between the low-income families and the middle-class families. Lastly, is the level of the per-capita poverty line, which reflects the society's view about what the minimum wage shall cover?
In some society, minimum wage is used in relation to the worker's personal basic needs while some societies consider the worker's family's basic needs. In this case, the number of family members and bread-winners of a family are also essential to know or to compute for the basic living standards in a given society. Effects of Minimum Wage Minimum wage has different effects on different families and states.
It simply depends upon the household and the way that the family responds to the changing Labor market and requirements.
The family might benefit in the minimum wage increase especially when there are two or more minimum wage earners in the family and they all receive the wage increase. However if one or two of the family earners would lose job due to cost cutting of businesses, then the family might as well fall to poverty.
There would be more family expenses with less family income. The minimum wage also has varying effects on women and indigenous workers which are very susceptible from lay offs. Thus, there cannot be a clear effect of minimum wage.
In order to know the general trend that an increase or a decrease in minimum wage produce, data's must be collected and family income surveys must be taken.
This shall accurately display the public's reaction to the wage changes. Problems with Minimum Wage The statements above briefly explains how minimum wage is devised and designed in order to answer the problems in poverty, however, its opponents have obviously lay down the possible problems that might happen if minimum wage would be set and impose. According to Freeman (as quoted in Gindling and Terrell, 2007), the ultimate objective or purpose of setting minimum wage is not to decrease the number of employment, it is to create a better allocation of income to the low wage workers.
However the study that was made in the United States and United Kingdom denotes that the low is in fact not useful in promoting and increasing employment. In this case, the minimum wage shall be effective in increasing the earnings of workers who are low-paid.
Nonetheless, the situation would not be the same given the fact that the current market is very competitive, as what the process of globalization have brought forward. As stated above, the cost cutting procedure that happens due to an increase of minimum wage results to some workers who are usually in the bottom of the production or working ladder to lose their jobs at the expense of the retention of others with higher wages. Richard Berman presented the argument that it is in fact very easy to see that in the imposition of the minimum wage, the government can order the employers the amount that some shall receive, however, the government does not have a say on who are the person that the employers shall hire. This situation forces the employer or the business sectors to lay off the less productive workers, not to hire unskilled and less educated workers and hire only those with enough qualification suited for the wage. What drastic effect does this situation bring about is quite complicated.
First, there would be fewer jobs available in the business arena.
Less opportunities for the jobless brings an increase in the unemployment rate which is equivalent to less family income for the unemployed and poverty for the society in the long-run. Second, this would yield to businessmen choosing more qualified individuals.
More qualified individuals are skilled workers; skilled workers on the other hand are more or less educated workers or otherwise experienced ones.
Educated workers are usually newly graduates or at least the young generation.
This shall leave the adults unskilled workers not preferable for jobs which are considered as low wage jobs. If this is so, they would not have chance to work or would have a very small probability to be accepted in jobs which are under the minimum wage law.
It is either they settle with underpaid jobs or not to work at all.
If that will be the case then poverty shall increase, since this people would have higher expenses and less income than what is needed to live substantially. Third, since businesses need to pay higher for the cost of labor, they would pass the expenses to the consumer which means that there would be higher prices in commodities and services.
Also, this sometimes results to lower quality in products or services, depending in how the employers and employees would react. This is because employees might need to work for longer hours or might be subjected to heavier or more task in a poorer working environment. The Living Wage Law versus State Pre-emption Law In 1994, Baltimore has enacted the "living-wage law" which helps to increase the local wages often higher than the minimum wage.
However, the state pre-emption law manages to block the effects of the living-wage law by preventing any local governments from setting the wage requirements in their state. This was organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council who believes that the living-wage is very expensive and costly especially in cases wherein there are only few workers who meet the requirements.
Both the living-wage and the state-pre-emption laws are effective ordinances that give the citizens the power to control their respective states minimum wages depending on the labor market. Minimum Wage and Poverty in the United States According to Gindling and Terrell (2007), in the study made by Blackburn and Addison in 1999 they have found out that the increase in minimum wage have help minimize the poverty level of junior high school dropouts and teenagers, from 1983 to 1996. In the study made by Neumark and Wascher in 2002, through the use of US CPS data, shows that an increase in the minimum wage both have a positive effect on the probability of families to fall into poverty and to escape poverty.
This shows that there is a redistribution of income among the poor. Minimum Wage and Poverty in Latin America The research made by Gindling and Terrell also shows that the countries in Latin America usually associates higher minimum wage with a decrease in poverty however it is considered to have a positive relationship with the unemployment rate, thus it is believed not to be an effective legislation and strategy to reduce poverty. In the data used by Sagat in 2001, he concludes that the people in the poverty line are not much affected by an increase in the minimum wage and that it is those who are in the upper levels which are greatly affected.
The results of studies that uses micro-data, shows that increasing minimum wage has no actual and significant effect on the level of poverty even when the effects of unemployment are taken into consideration. In another study that was also mentioned in Gindling and Terrell's research, Arango and Pachon have managed to prove that in Columbia, minimum wages helps in the improvement of the living condition of the families with high-income. The possibility of being employed, the range and hours of worked of women and less educated workers are affected negatively.
However, in the study made in Mexico by Cunningham and Siga in 2006, they found that those who are under the poverty line are most likely to benefit from the increase in minimum wage. The World Bank believes that the results of these studies differ with respect to the level of minimum wages in the respective areas.
Accordingly, Columbia has higher minimum wage than Mexico. The probability to be employed along with the changes in the number of working hours was also explored in the studies mentioned above.
The Arango and PAchon study in 2004, found that there is a reduction in the probability of household heads to be employed when minimum wage was increased.
Irrespective of this, the probability of non-heads being employed increase. The studies provide evidences that show that there is a negative relationship between poverty and increase in minimum wage, especially on the country level data's.
Micro-level data on the other hand provides a view regarding the family structure and household responses to the increase in minimum wage. Honduras: In Focus Honduras is a country in Central America which is considered as a developing country.
It has a struggling economy, with an annual Gross Domestic Product of US$2,900 as of 2006.
Its great majority is composed of the poor with the distribution of income controlled by a few.
The wage is very low, with only $160 per month.
Most of the people are dependent on the remittances that come from the illegal immigrants that go in the United States.
Most people in Honduras works in the textile industry earning the minimum wage, under poor conditions. It is said that about two-thirds of the people living in Honduras are living in poverty according to state.gov.
3.2% of its GDP is attributed to Services, 18% on the Manufacturing industry and the remaining 14% to agriculture. The Working Condition in Honduras The management in Honduras are said to impose overtime work to their employees.
Refusing this policy would result to three days no pay suspension.
Practically, it would be very difficult if not impossible to refuse doing overtime work.
Because of this situation mothers are forced to live their children to their relatives.
If one would refuse or would not be able to attend overtime, the person would be under an eight day, no pay, suspension. The factories in Honduras also have poor working condition and poor ventilation systems.
In one factory, there is even no available pure drinking water.
There are even incidents of maltreatments. Although the law permits workers to create unions and rally, there are reports that indicate employers harassing union sympathizers.
There are even numerous appeals in the Honduras labor courts concerning being fired from work because of joining the union. Forced labor is also not permitted, but as stated above, it was popularly done in most factories.
Children are also permitted to work even without parental consent.
The violation of Child Labor act is frequent in rural communities.
There are approximately 350,000 child workers in Honduras. There are several increases in the minimum wage of Honduras, currently; the minimum wage is set at US$2.12 a day for those working in the agricultural sector while the highest would be US$ 3.47 per day. Workers shall only work for only 44 hours per week, must have 10 days paid vacation per years however this were disregarded by most employees and workers are not given a chance to complain because of the high demand for job.
(National Economies Encyclopedia) The scenario above shows that the laws in Honduras are not properly being implemented.
This indicates that the working condition and environment in Honduras is indeed very low.
This might be a good environment for investors but it definitely degrades the welfare of the workers. However, it seems that there are not much foreign investors who are interested in the country.
This might be rooted from the inability of the government to implement laws which make the economy shaky and make the investors scared to spend or put up their investment. Minimum wage and Honduras In the research conducted by Gindling and Terrell, they have found out that ever since Honduras had legislated minimum wage laws, they have been able to set up to about 22 minimum wages.
The minimum wage was being change on the rate of twice every year. The minimum wage that applies to bigger firms is about 27% higher than those that belong to the much smaller firms.
However the rapidity of increase in smaller firms is 3% faster or greater than those of the larger ones. In the data's gathered by the PHSMP, otherwise known as the Permanent Household Surveys for Multiple Purposes plotted in a graph that was use by Gindling and Terrell, it shows that Honduras has been stable as of 1999. However, it remains to be a poor country, being the fourth of the poorest Central American countries.
From the same data's provided by the PHMSP about 44% of the labor force of Honduras is considered to belong in the "extremely" poor line.
This means that they don't even meet the 1, 200 calories per day requirement for standard living.
63% of the labor population is considered as poor, meaning only about 37% of the working class is considered to belong above the poverty line. According to the data's, 46% of those who works in small firms belongs to extreme poverty while 51% of the self-employed individuals also belong to the extreme poverty line.
The unskilled workers amount to 49% or almost two-thirds of the labor force.
50% of the workers are young individuals with age ranging from fifteen to twenty-one.
62% came from the rural areas. Discussion of the relationship of Poverty and Minimum wage in Honduras As far as the data's reflect, the constant raise of minimum wage I Honduras does not affect the person which belongs in the poverty line.
Instead of solving poverty, the raise in minimum wage is seen to have a relative relationship with poverty in the case of Honduras. The difference between the minimum wage set in the United States and in Honduras lies on the fact that those who earn the minimum wage in the United States belongs to those people who are in the poverty line while those who earn the minimum wage in Honduras mostly belongs to the middle class. Also, the number of family members must also be considered.
While in United States, the usual number of family members is four to five, in Honduras it is about 6 to 8.
This greatly affects the amount of standard living difference between Honduras and the United States. Minimum Wage versus Distribution of Wages In the study made by Gindling and Terrell in 2006, they have found out that an increase in the minimum wage would result to an increase in the average wage of the large firms.
However, an increase in minimum wage also increases in the laying off or cost cutting process. The study proves that when the company reduces the number of employees, the workers becomes either unemployed or would work in small firm business.
Such evidences suggest that increasing the legal minimum wage is tantamount to an increase in the employment in smaller firms. If such would be the case, there would be more workers who are willing to work for smaller wages, since smaller firms is not included in the minimum wage law.
Thus, there is a possibility that the wages would be reduced in the smaller firms, making a lot more workers work for low wages that later on creates more poverty. Possibility of Increasing Minimum Wage in Honduras The possibility of increasing the amount of minimum wage in Honduras remains very low, with most people working below the poverty line.
This only means that the workers who would receive the increase in minimum wage are only a small portion of the working force. With the possibility of employment reduction upon the implementation of the said increase, there would be a lot more people who would be cut out of job in the near future.
The working conditions of the workers are not any better.
It means that most of the workers might suffer health problems due to long hours of works and poor working environment.
In addition to this, those workers who would be left behind when lay offs happen would need to work longer hours or would be task to do more jobs. If these things happen, it is impossible for the people to maintain their health.
They would have more problems and more expenses.
Those who are unemployed would either risk illegal migration or settle for much lower paying jobs that they could find. Children would also be forced to work and possibly drop out of school, increasing the number of unskilled and less educated people and future workers.
Children are force to accept low wages since they are not in any position to complain, after all what they are doing is illegal and their minds are set to follow the instruction of higher ups especially older people. It is possible to increase minimum wage even presented with all this risk and loop holes after all, minimum wages in Honduras have been open to changes on about 22 times already.
Raising the minimum wage of about 5-10% would not have a great impact as the data's above presented.
When it will be higher than this it would be detrimental in the economy as a whole. Benefits of Increasing the Minimum Wage in Honduras The main benefit that an increase in minimum wage in Honduras can be the affect that it has on skilled and educated workers.
Most of these people belong to the middle class workers or those people who are earning above the poverty line.
It would benefit directly their net family income.
It would increase the possibility that they could have greater savings and for them to create their own businesses. In the consideration of the current state of Honduras, there would probably less people who would received the increase in minimum wage that will still be willing to risk illegal immigration.
Thus, an increase in minimum wage can contribute to a decrease in the number of illegal immigrants, since what they could possibly earn in another country is also almost equivalent to the amount that they would receive in Honduras, minus the risk. Increasing the minimum wage would also inspire people to finish their studies to be able to qualify for jobs or employment which offers minimum wage.
It would also be beneficial for skilled workers and newly graduate employees since they could earn more than when they do not graduate or if they do not have enough qualifications as that of college drop outs. Necessity and Relevance of Increasing the Minimum Wage in Honduras In the current working condition of the laborers in Honduras it is justified to increase their wages.
These workers have been experiencing force labor and are subjected to poor working environment which might be hazardous to their health. It is necessary for the government to increase the minimum wage to be able to protect the workers from the alienation that the working conditions in Honduras working places could make. In general, increasing minimum wage is relevant in giving the workers proper payment for their works.
With regards to poverty, increasing the minimum wage is relevant to be able to get skilled and educated families out of poverty, especially since getting proper skills and education have require great sacrifice from their families. Remittances and Poverty in Honduras The Red de Desarrollo Sostenible(RDS) have pioneered a project in Olancho, Honduras to take note of the impact of the remittances from foreign investment.
According to RDS, in 2004, there are nearly 700,000 workers who live outside of the country to work. This group of workers have been able to send remittances to the family members they have left in the country amounting to more or less $1 billion.
It is now considered to be the greatest source of income and investment.
It provides more income than tourism.
Thus, immigration and working outside of the country have been a popular strategy for the Hondurans to alleviate poverty. The organization believes that enhancing the remittances would be a better tool in alleviating poverty than raising the minimum wage, since it would not affect the labor market while increasing income for the families left behind. Legislation for Foreign Investments in Honduras There are no special legislations that are given to foreign investors in Honduras, actually, foreign and local investors enjoy the same benefits and incentives.
The foreign and local investors both have to pay more or less eight municipal taxes, three agency taxes and thirty one central government taxes.
There are no time limits for foreign investors, they could continue to operate as long as their company remains duly recognize, that is, when the company is registered and pay proper taxes. Honduras Foreign Debts and Disaster Mitch Honduras had an approximately $4.5 billion foreign debt as of 1996.
90% of this debt amounts to the long term debt, 87% of which are public debt.
Honduras annually pays more or less $564 million in 1996. The Hurricane Mitch which destroys most of the agricultural production of Honduras in October 1998, have left the country with no choice but to cancel or suspend debt servicing to foreign debts in able to cope up with the destruction by rebuilding its economy, roads and infrastructure that was severely damaged by Mitch. This destruction has left people with no choice but to migrate to other countries in able to at least live.
Thus, illegal migration has been a central problem after the hurricane.
Most of the people from Honduras have fled to the United States illegally. Legal Actions by United States In order to counter the flow of illegal immigrants in the United States, they devised Acts and Regulations that restrict individuals coming from Central America.
There have been increased in qualification and ineligibility to people from the Central America to enter the United States for three up to ten years if they are found guilty of entering United States borders illegally. Honduras and Migration There is a natural tendency for people to migrate from one land to another in cases that the previous land was not abundant of resources to satisfy the person's basic needs.
This human instinct was what can be observed from the phenomena that hit most Central American countries in 1998. Most of the family members decide to go outside of their countries for faith of having better fortunes somewhere else.
There is nothing wrong with this so far, unless of course things are done illegally. At the height of the Mitch disaster, human trafficking from the Central America to United States has been so popular.
People are moving out, not minding how they could get out of the poverty-stricken situation that they have been experiencing. Although there are laws that forbid human trafficking, the enforcement of laws in Honduras was not strictly implemented as can be seen in the previous discussions.
This has created more problems in United States. Honduras has started to get positive impact in this kind of solution.
As discussed, remittances have continued to become a great part of Honduras Gross Domestic Product up until today.
It has affected the national economy and gives the labor market a boost. There are about 40% of the households who lives under the poverty line which receives remittances.
How ever, there is a problem that most people in Central America have been experiencing concerning money transfer. According to Sica and Avina (1999), the rate of money transfer to Central America is about 20% of the total amount to be sent. Minimum Wage versus Remittances As the discussion progress, it can be gathered that Minimum Wage is a very problematic and risky legislative tool to take with respect to the reduction of poverty.
Although it is possible to increase the minimum wage and it has some benefits, still the problems that it can present generally outweighs its necessity. Thus, as natural as changes in ecological niche and survival instincts, people from Central America specifically in Honduras have resorted to migration and human trafficking.
It was one of the most popular ways of escaping the poverty in Honduras. While it does help people to earn a fortune and it have helped the economy prosper, still, there are issues concerning migration that could deeply affect the economic relationship of Honduras with other countries especially the United States. This is the case since the United States have been making it more difficult for legal migrants to enter their borders and legal migration cost more and more. The earnings from foreign remittances have been the main source of income in Honduras.
Mainly, remittances help alleviate poverty and increase the net family income without doing damage to the workers and without disrupting the labor sector. Conclusion and Reccomendation Since people receive more income through remittances, it would be very beneficial if the government of Honduras would pay attention on increasing the foreign remittances of the country. This could be done through long-term plans and with coordination to other country's business sectors and government. First, the government must try to improve and promote quality education for those who aspire to have high-paying jobs and to work abroad.
In line with this, the government must identify what are kind of workers are needed by other countries. For instance, nurses, care givers and house maids are in demand in most European and Middle Eastern countries. Second, the government must offer short term courses which would increase and develop the skills of its workers.
For instance offering seminars and short courses on air conditioning repair, mechanical and electronic repairs which would help unemployed workers find jobs. Third, the people must in their own way help themselves out of poverty.
Provided that the people in the country are willing to work in poor working condition, they must organize themselves to fight the cruelties and repression that they receive from their employers.
In line with this, the government must help the workers meet the legally due environment and system that they deserve. Fourth, the government must employ its citizens by doing road projects and infrastructure that would benefit the public as a whole.
Roads are the most important way to connect people from different places and to make distribution of resources easier, faster and more convenient.
The workers in this case should be given minimum wage; this would help fuel the economy far better. The workers would buy more if they have more income, some would be able to save more for future use.
Industries would also run its gears since there would be more demands from the consumers. The government would also benefit from more taxes.
More government money can be use to further improve international relations and could be use to increase the minimum wage of the public sector.
Increasing the minimum wage in the public sector will help boost the economy since the workers would be willing to work in government agencies and projects. Helping the economy to move and circulate is a priority that the government must take in able to reduce poverty.
Increasing the minimum wage would not affect the people in poverty as have been discussed. Changes in wages have a minimum effect on the level of poverty that the country have been experiencing, thus it is not a good idea to increase minimum wages in Honduras. The minimum wage in Honduras better stay as it is today.
A better economic tool that can be use would be creating public projects in which both the general public and the private sectors could participate.
Increasing the possibility of legal means of migration would also be another top priority, since it is very hard for a country like Honduras to attract foreign investors. If the minimum wage in Honduras shall increase, it should do so in only small portion so as not to affect the labor market structure.
According to Gindling and Terrell, in the span of 2001-2004 the minimum wage in Honduras rose of about 10.9% with the extreme poverty falling 2%.
However, this is not sufficient evidence that the reduction of poverty is due to the increase in minimum wage but rather on other more popular ways that the people take such as immigration which bring forth more and more foreign remittances. Data's gathered by Gindling and Terrell Table A.
Monthly changes in Minimum wage Sector may_01 sept_01 May _02 Sept_02 March_03 sept_03 May_04 Agriculture, Hunting and Fishing 1-15 workers 34.6 33.73 35.25 32.83 36.82 35.85 37.91 16+ workers 48.62 47.39 49.47 46.08 50.3 48.97 50.45 Non-Metallic Mining 60.55 59.02 61.03 56.85 61.97 60.34 62.16 Metallic Mining 1-15 workers 36.33 35.41 38.72 36.07 40.44 44.06 41.65 16+ workers 50.35 49.07 52.71 49.1 53.46 56.74 55.89 Table B.
Impact of an Increase in the Minimum Wage on the Poor and the Extremely Poor for Sub-Groups in the Labor Force in Small and Large Firms Large Firms Small Firms Sample Poor Extremely Poor Poor Extremely Poor Unskilled -0.373*** -0.279*** 0.612 0.263 0.1040.0730.5320.414 Skilled -0.009 -0.001 0.76 0.456 0.1200.0960.5530.486 Non-head -0.134* -0.170*** 0.511 0.108 0.0780.0540.4410.394 Head -0.219*** -0.205*** 0.468 0.058 0.0760.0590.4410.393 Rural -0.512*** -0.381*** -0.068 -0.156 0.1340.0940.4270.351 Urban -0.015 -0.063 0.592 0.189 0.0720.0490.4010.383 *significant at the 0.10 confidence level **significant at the 0.05 confidence level ***significant at the 0.01 confidence level Table C: Poverty Rates for Different types of Workers in Honduras (avg.
for 2001-2004) Area Extremely Poor Poor Non-Poor Share of Total Covered Large 19.0 24.7 56.2 20.3% Covered Small 46.4 19.9 33.7 36.3% Self-employed 51.1 17.8 31.1 36.2% Public 9.8 18.9 71.4 7.2% The data's are the one which are used in the research made by Gindling and Terrell.
This data's relevance can be reflected on the paper.
As can be seen in Table A, there have constant changes in minimum wage almost every four t six months.
The impact of the increase in minimum wage can be reflected on Table B.
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