Minimum wages are frequently used with the aim of reducing income inequality or alleviating poverty. However, implied effects on employment are highly controversial and findings within the empirical literature show ambiguous results. Reported changes in employment, associated with a minimum wage increase, are ranging from clearly negative to even slightly positive. We investigate whether these different effects can be explained by differential effects of minimum wages as a function of economic conditions. Based on rich data from New Zealand we are able to exploit different age thresholds and reforms under various economic conditions to investigate the relation between the effects of minimum wages and business cycle fluctuations.