Open AccessWage-Setting Policies, Employment, and Food Insecurity: A Multilevel Analysis of 492 078 People in 139 Countries
Author(s) -
Aaron Reeves,
Rachel Loopstra,
Valerie Tarasuk
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2020.306096
Subject(s) - food insecurity , wage , economics , multilevel model , collective bargaining , demographic economics , labour economics , food security , geography , archaeology , machine learning , computer science , agriculture
Objectives. To examine the association between wage-setting policy and food insecurity. Methods. We estimated multilevel regression models, using data from the Gallup World Poll (2014-2017) and UCLA's World Policy Analysis Center, to examine the association between wage setting policy and food insecurity across 139 countries (n = 492 078). Results. Compared with countries with little or no minimum wage, the probability of being food insecure was 0.10 lower (95% confidence interval = 0.02, 0.18) in countries with collective bargaining. However, these associations varied across employment status. More generous wage-setting policies (e.g., collective bargaining or high minimum wages) were associated with lower food insecurity among full-time workers (and, to some extent, part-time workers) but not those who were unemployed. Conclusions. In countries with generous wage-setting policies, employed adults had a lower risk of food insecurity, but the risk of food insecurity for the unemployed was unchanged. Wage-setting policies may be an important intervention for addressing risks of food insecurity among low-income workers.