Date of Graduation
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Economics
Advisor/Mentor
McGee, Peter
Committee Member
Cleveland, Todd
Second Committee Member
Hong, Ye
Abstract
Some believe Arkansas Act 195 may create more problems than it looks to solve; the paper sets out to find if Arkansas is experiencing any benefits from the passing of the law. This paper is an economic analysis of Arkansas Act 195 of 2023 (The Youth Hiring Act of 2023), which removed a work permit requirement for fourteen and fifteen year olds. The paper also observes data from Iowa since the state passed a similar policy. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data on waiters, fast food workers, cashiers, and bartenders from 2017 to 2023 in Iowa and Arkansas, it performs a regression analysis on the occupational mean annual wage. To contextualize the data, it uses United States Census Bureau Data and touches on a brief history of labor laws in Arkansas and nationwide. This is a pilot study that looks to start a conversation about the economic impact of Act 195.
Keywords
Arkansas Act 195; Act 687; Iowa Senate File 542; Bartenders, waiters, cashiers, fast food workers; employment and mean annual wages regression analysis
Citation
Queen, H. S. (2025). Did The Youth Hiring Act of 2023 Impact Wages In Arkansas?. Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/econuht/67
Included in
Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Labor and Employment Law Commons, Law and Economics Commons, Public Interest Commons
