Advocates claim that raising the minimum wage would lift many families out of poverty and reduce income equality, but a new study contends that a rise in wages would also reduce child maltreatment.

According to a study from Indiana University and University of Connecticut researchers released in the January issue of Children and Youth Services Review, neglect reports involving young children declined by 10.8 percent in response to a $1 increase in the minimum wage.

According to University of California Berkeley economics professor Michael Reich, the study provides more evidence that boosting wages can provide health benefits for low-income families.

“The results complement a number of other recent papers showing that minimum wage increases have beneficial effects on infant and maternal health, adolescent fertility, and other health outcomes,” said Reich, who has studied the impact of minimum wage increases in California.

[For more of this story, written by Marisol Zarate, go to https://chronicleofsocialchang...d-maltreatment/28030]