Adelia Z.'s Senior Project Blog!

How often should employees be paid? Initially, the relevance of this question may not seem clear. After all, isn’t how much we pay people more important than how often? While this is true, how often employees are paid can still have a significant impact on their financial wellbeing as well as that of the employer and economy as a whole. Therefore, in my senior project I will explore what the optimal payment frequency is to account for all three of these factors, as well as taking into account what effects income and industry might have on my conclusions. In order to do this, I will look into the data that other researchers have found surrounding the benefits of paying employees more or less often at the micro level. To make conclusions at the macro level, I will examine the economic data of countries and states that recently changed their regulations as to how often employees must be paid. Through my internship with the Office of Research at the CFPB, I will be gaining invaluable experience in sophisticated economic data analysis. I hope that by combining what I learn through both avenues, I will be able to propose a system for paying and educating employees in a way that maximizes the benefits for the employee, employer, and economy.