Abstract
Objective: To examine the effects of increasing minimum wage on supermarket food prices in Seattle over 2 years of policy implementation, overall and differentially across food quality metrics. Methods: Prices for the UW Center for Public Health Nutrition (CPHN) market basket of 106 foods were obtained for 6 large supermarket chain stores in Seattle (“intervention”) and for the same chain stores in King County (“control”) at four time points: 1-month pre- (March 2015), 1-month post- (May 2015), 1-year post- (May 2016), and 2-years post-policy implementation (May 2017). Prices for all food items were standardized and converted to price per 100 kcal. Food quality metrics were used to explore potential differential price increases by (a) food groups, as defined by US Department of Agriculture; (b) NOVA food processing categories, and (c) nutrient density quartiles, based on the Nutrient Rich Foods Index 9.3. Separate difference-in-differences linear regression models with robust standard errors, examined price differences per 100 kcal overall, clustered by store chain, and stratified by each food quality metric. Results: There were no overall market basket price changes attributable to Seattle’s minimum wage policy. Moreover, no minimum wage effect was detected by USDA food group, food processing, or nutrient density categories. Conclusions: Local area supermarket food prices were not impacted by Seattle’s minimum wage policy 2 years into policy implementation and after the first increase to $15/h overall or by sub-classification. Low-income workers may be able to afford higher quality diets if wages increase yet supermarket prices stay the same.
Highlights
The federal minimum wage rate in the United States has not kept pace with inflation since1968 contributing to growing wage inequities and a decline in purchasing power among low- and minimum-wage earning workers and their families [1,2]
We examine differential price effects across three food quality metrics: food group, level of food processing, and nutrient density
County stores had a slightly lower average market basket price than Seattle stores, this difference remained relatively constant overtime. This is reflected in the non-significant, mean difference item-level price per kcal at 1-month (−$0.01 per 100 kcal, SE = 0.026, P = 0.670), 1-year
Summary
The federal minimum wage rate in the United States has not kept pace with inflation since. 1968 contributing to growing wage inequities and a decline in purchasing power among low- and minimum-wage earning workers and their families [1,2]. In an effort to improve the economic environment of workers and increase the economic security and well-being of workers and their families, an increasing number of municipalities and counties have adopted wage rates above that of their state [3]. In 2003, Santa Fe, New Mexico and San Francisco, California became the first cities. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 102; doi:10.3390/ijerph16010102 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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