The Impact of Minimum Wage Increase on Suicidal Ideation in South Korea: a Difference-in-differences Analysis Using Nationally Representative Panel Data

Overview

Journal Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

Specialties Psychiatry
Public Health
Social Sciences

Date 2024 Mar 1

PMID 38429540

Authors

Chungah Kim

Yihong Bai

Gabriel John Dusing

Andrew Nielsen

Antony Chum

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: South Korea had the highest suicide rates in the OECD and one of the largest (16.4%) increases in the minimum wage in 2018. Prior studies have provided evidence that increases in minimum wage reduce suicide rates in the population, but no study examined the effects of the policy change on individual-level suicidal behaviour.

Methods: Our study sample was built using the 2015-2019 waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Survey, a population-representative longitudinal survey. The sample consisted of 5146 participants, including those earning above minimum wage (control) and minimum wage earners (treatment) based on their 2018/19 earnings. The outcome of the study was suicidal ideation, which is an important precursor to other suicidal behaviours, and was captured using self-reported measures. We examined the impact of the 2018 minimum wage hike in Korea on suicidal ideation, using a difference-in-differences design.

Results: The minimum wage increase was associated with a 1.6% points reduction (95% CI: -2.8% to -0.5%) in self-reported suicidal ideation. Stronger policy effects were shown among women and older age groups.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that public policies employing a population-based approach, such as increasing minimum wages, could serve as an effective intervention to mitigate suicidal ideation among low-income workers.

Citing Articles

Impacts of Working Hours, Wages, and Regular Employment Opportunity on Suicide Mortalities of Employed and Unemployed Individuals before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.

Matsumoto R, Motomura E, Okada M Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024; 21(4).

PMID: 38673410 PMC: 11050676. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21040499.

References

van Spijker B, van Straten A, Kerkhof A, Hoeymans N, Smit F . Disability weights for suicidal thoughts and non-fatal suicide attempts. J Affect Disord. 2011; 134(1-3):341-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.05.020. View

Harper A, Ginapp C, Bardelli T, Grimshaw A, Justen M, Mohamedali A . Debt, Incarceration, and Re-entry: a Scoping Review. Am J Crim Justice. 2020; 46(2):250-278. PMC: 7417202. DOI: 10.1007/s12103-020-09559-9. View

Turunen E, Hiilamo H . Health effects of indebtedness: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2014; 14:489. PMC: 4060868. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-489. View

Mani A, Mullainathan S, Shafir E, Zhao J . Poverty impedes cognitive function. Science. 2013; 341(6149):976-80. DOI: 10.1126/science.1238041. View

Choi N, Marti C, Conwell Y . Effect of Problem-Solving Therapy on Depressed Low-Income Homebound Older Adults' Death/Suicidal Ideation and Hopelessness. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2015; 46(3):323-36. PMC: 4829492. DOI: 10.1111/sltb.12195. View

Pereira da Silva-Junior F, de Pinho R, de Mello M, de Bruin V, de Bruin P . Risk factors for depression in truck drivers. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2008; 44(2):125-9. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-008-0412-3. View

Pickett K, Wilkinson R . Income inequality and health: a causal review. Soc Sci Med. 2015; 128:316-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.12.031. View

Wetherall K, Daly M, Robb K, Wood A, OConnor R . Explaining the income and suicidality relationship: income rank is more strongly associated with suicidal thoughts and attempts than income. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2015; 50(6):929-37. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-015-1050-1. View

Gertner A, Rotter J, Shafer P . Association Between State Minimum Wages and Suicide Rates in the U.S. Am J Prev Med. 2019; 56(5):648-654. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.12.008. View

10.

Kaufman J, Salas-Hernandez L, Komro K, Livingston M . Effects of increased minimum wages by unemployment rate on suicide in the USA. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2020; 74(3):219-224. PMC: 7549077. DOI: 10.1136/jech-2019-212981. View

11.

Dow W, Godoy A, Lowenstein C, Reich M . Can Labor Market Policies Reduce Deaths of Despair?. J Health Econ. 2020; 74:102372. PMC: 8403492. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102372. View

12.

Rath A, Lau E, Schooling C . The impact of the minimum wage on suicide rates in Hong Kong. Soc Sci Med. 2022; 314:115236. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115236. View

13.

Bernert R, Joiner T . Sleep disturbances and suicide risk: A review of the literature. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2009; 3(6):735-43. PMC: 2656315. DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s1248. View

14.

Gomila R . Logistic or linear? Estimating causal effects of experimental treatments on binary outcomes using regression analysis. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2020; 150(4):700-709. DOI: 10.1037/xge0000920. View

15.

Wing C, Simon K, Bello-Gomez R . Designing Difference in Difference Studies: Best Practices for Public Health Policy Research. Annu Rev Public Health. 2018; 39:453-469. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-013507. View

16.

Kim M, Jung-Choi K, Jun H, Kawachi I . Socioeconomic inequalities in suicidal ideation, parasuicides, and completed suicides in South Korea. Soc Sci Med. 2010; 70(8):1254-61. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.01.004. View

17.

Hur J, Lee B, Lee S, Shim S, Han S, Kim Y . Gender differences in suicidal behavior in Korea. Psychiatry Investig. 2010; 5(1):28-35. PMC: 2796090. DOI: 10.4306/pi.2008.5.1.28. View