Lower suicide rates linked to $1 minimum wage increase

(KYMA/KECY) - Suicide rates amongst workers with a high school diploma or less can decrease with an increase in the minimum wage.

This is especially important during times when unemployment is much higher.

A new 25-year observational study published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that a $1 increase in the minimum wage resulted in an estimated 3.4% to 5.9% decrease in suicide rates among adults ages 18 to 64, and a $2 increase could have prevented an estimated 40,000 suicides alone between 2009 and 2015.