Minimum Wage's Impact on Low Pay Trends

Steps:

• Examine trends in low pay and extremely low pay percentages from 1976 to 2012, noting the 1999 minimum wage introduction.
• Identify changes before and after 1999 for both categories to assess policy effects.
• Compare reduction sizes across periods to find the largest drop in low pay.
• Evaluate each option against observed trends for consistency.

Why C is correct:

• Post-1999 data shows the steepest decline in low pay percentages, directly aligning with the minimum wage's implementation as the key intervention.

Why the others are wrong:

• A: Extremely low pay may have seen comparable or greater relative benefits, not less.
• B: Trends did not reverse (e.g., no upward trajectory pre-1999 to downward post); they continued declining variably.
• D: Extremely low pay trends were inconsistent or unaffected post-1999, not uniformly reduced.

Final answer: C