Emeryville, California

Julio Payes, a key figure in Poverty, By America, lives in Emeryville, California. Emeryville is a small city of about 12,000 people in between Oakland and Berkeley. Emeryville plays an important role in Payes's story because Payes and his associates were able to rally for a higher minimum wage here. This wage hike allowed Payes to reduce the number of hours he worked per week and to play with his younger brother again.

New Jersey vs. Pennsylvania

In 1992, New Jersey raised its minimum wage while neighboring Pennsylvania did not. This set of circumstances set up a natural experiment to test whether greater unemployment rates would follow the wage increase. David Card and Alan Krueger surveyed 410 fast food establishments before and after the wage hike, and they found that the increase in the minimum wage did not result in more unemployment. The effect on employment was negligible overall...