A new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research says minimum wage increases may harm the health of some workers, especially unemployed male workers.

The paper claims to be the first to research how minimum wage hikes affect the self-reported health of workers in the United States.

"We find little evidence that minimum wage increases lead to improvements in overall worker health," the paper's authors write. "In fact, we find some evidence that minimum wage increases may decrease some aspects of health."

The paper also found that minimum wage hikes put both male and female employees out of work.

Minimum wage hikes are especially harmful to unemployed males. "Unemployed men experience the largest health losses following minimum wage increases," the paper says. They experience worse physical health that isn't completely offset by an improvement in mental health.

Males who remained employed after a minimum wage hike were more likely to say their health was "fair or poor." It's not all bad news, however. They also reported a reduction in the number of days they experienced "mental strain."

The paper found no evidence female workers were any more or less healthy because of a minimum wage hike.

The study used data on workers without any college education collected from 1993 to 2014. In that time frame, the federal minimum wage increased six times and every state had at least one change in its minimum wage, making any changes in worker health caused by the minimum wage fairly ripe for study.

The paper was authored by Brady Horn with the University of New Mexico, Joanna Maclean with Temple University and Michael Strain with the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.