The National Minimum Wage and Hours of Work: Implications for Low Paid Women*

Abstract

Abstract The largest group of beneficiaries from the introduction of the National Minimum Wage in the UK were women working part‐time. A potential threat to these wage gains is a reduction in the working hours available, with part‐time (flexible) jobs particularly vulnerable. This paper reports a range of difference‐in‐difference estimates using individual‐level data from the New Earnings Survey and the British Household Panel Survey. No significant changes in hours worked by either full‐ or part‐time women are found 1, 2 and 3 years after the NMW, and no change in the probabilities of remaining in full‐ or part‐time work or transiting between the two.