Do minimum wages improve self-rated health? : evidence from a natural experiment

In this paper we analyze whether the introduction of the general minimum wage in Germany in 2015 had an effect on workers' self-rated health. To study this question, we use survey-data linked to administrative employment records and apply difference-in-difference regressions combined with propensity score matching. This approach enables us to control for a vast set of possibly confounding variables. We find on average significant improvements of self-rated health for individuals who are affected by the reform. Our results indicate, that a significant reduction of weekly working hours potentially drives this result.