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Six models are estimated, incorporating three possible explanatory factors for non-employment which may be substitutable or complementary. They are the weakness of financial incentives, lower productivity than the cost of the minimum wage and labour market shortcomings. The study of participatory behaviour uses a microsimulation model based on the 1998 Taxable Income Survey, while the impact of minimum wage censorship is estimated using 1997 and 1998 Employment Survey data. The study, conducted on one-adult households, shows that the best fit is obtained by models which assume a strict complementarity between minimum wage censorship and participation. A 10% increase, through transfers, in the available income of a female worker earning the minimum wage would induce a 10% increase in the probability of employment.