The impact of the minimum wage on Spanish youth: Evidence from a natural experiment

This work assesses the impact of the minimum wage on youth employment, unemployment and education enrolment in Spain. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we take advantage of the fact that the minimum wage for people aged 16 and 17 years old, which was approximately two thirds the level of the standard minimum wage, was raised to reach full convergence with the latter in a period of three years (from 1995 to 1998). The empirical analysis suggests that this policy intervention depressed the employment levels of the affected group, raised unemployment among them and decreased the probability of remaining in formal education.