Dani McClain, The Nation, May 23, 2014—Significantly raising California’s minimum wage could save lives and and improve the health of poor women and the children they raise on their own. That’s according to a new report that examines how a proposal to lift the state’s minimum wage from its current $8 to $13 by 2017 would affect indicators such as hunger, obesity and psychological well-being among the state’s impoverished families.