Middle-Class America, Fading Fast
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Two alarming reports recently out point to long-term trends in the U.S. economy that don’t bode well for maintaining a strong middle class in this nation.
Between 1980 and 2009, labor productivity increased by 78 percent but:
- The median compensation of 35- to 44-year-old male high school graduates (with no college) declined by 10 percent.
- The median compensation of 35- to 44-year-old male college graduates (without graduate degrees) grew by 32 percent, less than one half as much as overall productivity growth.
- Only the median compensation of 35- to 44-year-old men with post-graduate training came close to labor productivity growth increasing by 49 percent.
The above data from the Employment Policy Research Network noted that such an out-of-sync productivity-wage ration resuled in 1 percent of the population living on 21 percent of the nation’s total annual earnings in 2009.
Next, an analysis by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the 10 largest occupations in May 2010 accounted for more than 20 percent of total employment. But here’s the kicker: Nine out of 10 of these occupations are relatively low-paying jobs, meaning jobs that paid less than the U.S. mean hourly wage of $21.35.
Wage Gap Between Women and Men Bad, Women of Color Suffer Most
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The pay gap between female and male workers in this country got a hearing in a Senate committee yesterday. But you wouldn’t even know the hearing happened: The issue apparently doesn’t rank up there with the antics of drunk superstars or foolish golfers to get attention by the corporate media.
Right now, U.S. working women receive 77 cents for every dollar paid to a male worker. The ratio has remained nearly unchanged for years. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has been pushing for more than a decade to pass a paycheck fairness bill, and yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12/S. 182).
