This ESRI study, funded by the Low Pay Commission, found that the 2016 increase in the Irish minimum wage reduced hourly wage inequality between high and low earners by up to 8 per cent. However, there was no strong impact on the income of households.

We use distributional regression analysis to study the impact of a six percent increase in the Irish minimum wage on the distribution of hourly wages and household income. Wage inequality, measured by the ratio of wages in the 90th and 10th percentiles and the 75th and 25th percentiles,...