§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what independent evidence is available which examines the employment effects of the minimum wage.
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 16 January 1995]: There is a large body of evidence which examines the effects of minimum wages on employment. This includes most recently the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's jobs study, the International Monetary Fund's world economic outlook, and the European Commission's White Paper on competitiveness.
Details of earlier studies and reports were given in the reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for West Derbyshire (Mr. McLoughlin), on 4 November 1992, Official Report, column 299.