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HIA Archive : San Francisco Living Wage Ordinance San Francisco Living Wage Ordinance Authors: San Francisco Department of Public Health Date: March 2006
Summary of the HIA * In 1999, the city of San Francisco proposed a living wage ordinance (LWO) that would create a wage minimum of $11 per hour for firms that provided services to, or lease land from local government. Support for the law was based on the idea that employees who provide services for local government should be paid wages that sufficiently meet the local cost of living. Background ** and Policy Context Historically, LWOs were first adopted in Baltimore, Maryland in 1994. Since that time approximately 30 other cities in the US have taken on such laws including three in California: Los Angeles (1997), San Jose and Oakland (1998). At the time this HIA was conducted, the wage floor mandated by LWOs ranged from $7 - $9 per hour, with a possible $1.25 added per hour in the event that employers do not provide benefits like insurance. At the time, the highest wage floors were in San Jose at $9.50 and $10.75. This HIA estimates the magnitude of the anticipated health improvement associated with the $11 per hour legislation. Scope and Methods Published observational models of the relationship of income to health were applied to predict improvements in health outcomes associated with proposed wage increases in San Francisco. Estimates were based on peer-reviewed published studies of income's effect on health. Health outcomes of interest were premature mortality, preventable hospitalizations, and emergency room visits. Summary of findings Adoption of the increased wage was estimated to result in decreases in the risk of premature death by 5% for adults 24-44 years of age in households whose income was around $20,000. For the offspring these workers, a living wage would result in an increase of a quarter of a year of completed education, a 34% increased odds of high school completion, and a 22% decrease in the risk of early childbirth. Updated 06/23/2009 * The HIA-CLIC website and this summary were developed by the UCLA Health Impact Assessment (UCLA-HIA) Project with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Every effort has been made to ensure that these summaries are factually accurate. HIA authors have been given an opportunity to review summaries before posting. HIA authors may notify us of any factual inaccuracies or updates by filling out a Request for Update form (click for pop-up form).** Readers interested in more detail, including literature citations, for the background summarized here are encouraged to view the full HIA report (see external link above), or to review the relevant Pathway section of HIA-CLIC.
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