Extending the Coverage of Minimum Wages in India: Simulations from Household Data

By Patrick Belser, Uma Rani on January 01, 2010

The present working paper discusses minimum wages in India, seeking to make a
constructive contribution to an ongoing national debate and relying also on experience and example from other countries. Specifically, the paper simulates the impact of extending the coverage of minimum wages on poverty, inequality and the gender pay gap. In one of the most striking results, the paper shows that if all wage-earners were covered by the state-level minimum wages at existing levels, the earnings of up to 76 million low-paid wage-earners – out of about 400 million workers – could be directly affected.

WIEGO's former board member, Uma Rani is a co-author.

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