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A Natural Experiment Evaluating the Effect of a Minimum Wage Increase on Obesity and Diet-Related Outcome

Award Number: R01DK118664
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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Minimum wage laws are increasingly being recognized as a possible policy lever for improving population health and health equity, with the potential for implementation at the local, state, and national levels. On June 30, 2017, Minneapolis, Minnesota became the 40th local jurisdiction to set the minimum wage above the state level. The city will incrementally increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by July 1, 2022 for all firms with greater than 100 employees; minimum wage in smaller firms will increase to $13.50 during this time period. The ordinance is expected to increase wages among the 71,000 workers likely to be affected, who are disproportionately non-Hispanic black and Hispanic workers. The available evidence suggests that minimum wage laws may be associated with a range of health outcomes. This includes obesity, as increasing wages can improve food security and reduce cost constraints for purchasing healthier foods. However, existing studies linking wages and weight have design weaknesses that limit causal inference and the ability to identify causal mechanisms. This study, which has a prospective quasi-experimental design with a strong counterfactual condition, is the next step for testing whether and how an increase in minimum wage results in improved obesity-related outcomes among low-wage workers. Throughout the 4.5-year implementation of the Minneapolis minimum wage ordinance, we will follow a cohort of low-wage workers (those earning less than $10 an hour at baseline) in a natural experiment, using a difference-in-difference design to compare a panel of obesity-related measures in a cohort of low-wage workers in Minneapolis (n = 400) and similar workers in a matched control community (n = 400), Raleigh, NC. The control city has a statewide preemption law which prohibits local minimum wage increases. Measures for all individuals will be collected at baseline (T0) and after 5 incremental wage increases (T1-T5) through June 2022. The study aims to test the difference in change in body mass index (BMI, the primary outcome) between individuals in the two conditions, as assessed by anthropometric height-weight measurements. We will also test the difference in change in the two conditions for a range of nutrition-related outcomes, including purchases of healthier and less healthy foods (measured by food purchase receipts), food insecurity (measured by a 6-item USDA measure), and participation in government food assistance programs (measured by participant survey). Finally, we will test other behavioral and psychosocial mechanisms through which wages might affect obesity, and explore spending changes in household health-related expenses over time. Minimum wage laws are a potential upstream approach to prevent obesity, and these policies may be uniquely positioned to reduce health disparities because they intervene on a population (lower-income, high racial/ethnic minority) at the highest risk for poor health. This natural experiment offers a time-sensitive opportunity to test policy effects and contribute a rare health-oriented perspective to the national discourse around the effects of an economic policy.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	6	3/29/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $588,499 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	001	6	3/24/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$58,852
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	6	3/9/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$529,647
														Subtotal = $588,499

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $501,499 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	004	5	8/8/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$15,062
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	002	5	3/29/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$567,946
2021	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE # 224	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	003	3	8/8/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$15,062
2021	2020	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133	STORRS	CT	06269	TOLLAND	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	001	4	2/11/2021	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$505,547
2021	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE # 224	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	3	2/11/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$571,994
														Subtotal = $501,499

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $702,226 )
2020	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE # 224	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	3	3/30/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$702,226
														Subtotal = $702,226

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $688,728 )
2019	2019	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE # 224	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	2	4/12/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$688,728
														Subtotal = $688,728

Issue Date FY: 2018 ( Subtotal = $738,213 )
2018	2018	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE # 224	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	1	2/5/2018	NEW	$738,213
														Subtotal = $738,213

Grand Total All Awards = $3,219,165

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A Natural Experiment Evaluating the Effect of a Minimum Wage Increase on Obesity and Diet-Related Outcome

Award Number: R01DK118664

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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