Question

use the information in the following table to determine the percentage changes in the u.s. and french real minimum wages between 1957 and 2022.

sources: for 1957: john m. abowd, francis kramarz, thomas lemieux, and david n. margolis, \minimum wages and youth employment in france and the united states,\ in d. blanchflower and r. freeman, eds., youth employment and joblessness in advanced countries, chicago: university of chicago press, 1999, pp. 427 - 472 (the value for the minimum wage is given in francs; it was converted to euros at a conversion rate of 1 euro = 6.55957 francs); for 2020: insee online data bank, www.insee.fr; u.s. department of labor; and u.s. bureau of labor statistics.

calculate the percentage change in u.s. real minimum wages between 1957 and 2022: - 33.19%. (enter your response as a percentage rounded to two decimal places). calculate the percentage change in french real minimum wages between 1957 and 2022: % (enter your response as a percentage rounded to two decimal places).

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate real minimum wage for 1957 and 2022 in France

The formula for real minimum wage \(RM = \frac{Nominal\ minimum\ wage}{CPI}\times100\)
For 1957: \(RM_{1957}=\frac{0.19}{8}\times100 = 2.375\) euros
For 2022: \(RM_{2022}=\frac{11.06}{117}\times100\approx9.453\) euros

Step2: Calculate percentage change

The formula for percentage change \(PC=\frac{RM_{2022}-RM_{1957}}{RM_{1957}}\times100\)
\(PC=\frac{9.453 - 2.375}{2.375}\times100=\frac{7.078}{2.375}\times100\approx297.26\%\)

Answer:

\(297.26\%\)