Wage Stagnation

See the link below for the charts. I suggest reading the whole article.

http://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/

Wage Stagnation in Nine Charts

Our country has suffered from rising income inequality and chronically slow growth in the living standards of low- and moderate-income Americans. This disappointing living-standards growth—which was in fact caused by rising income inequality—preceded the Great Recession and continues to this day. Fortunately, income inequality and middle-class living standards are now squarely on the political agenda.

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It should not be surprising that trends in hourly wage growth have profound consequences for American living standards. After all, the vast majority of Americans rely on their paychecks to make ends meet. For these families, the bulk of income comes from wages and employer-provided benefits, followed by other income sources linked to jobs, such as wage-based tax credits, pensions, and social insurance. Wage-related income also accounts for the majority of total income among the bottom fifth of households.

Wage stagnation for the vast majority was not created by abstract economic trends. Rather, wages were suppressed by policy choices made on behalf of those with the most income, wealth, and power. In the past few decades, the American economy generated lots of income and wealth that would have allowed substantial living standards gains for every family. The same is true looking forward: Overall income and wealth will continue to grow.

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The U.S. middle class had $17,867 less income in 2007 because of the growth of inequality since 1979

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Workers produced much more, but typical workers’ pay lagged far behind

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When it comes to the pace of annual pay increases, the top 1% wage grew 138% since 1979, while wages for the bottom 90% grew 15%

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Middle-class wages are stagnant—Middle-wage workers’ hourly wage is up 6% since 1979, low-wage workers’ wages are down 5%, while those with very high wages saw a 41% increase

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Wages of young college grads have been falling since 2000

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Employers are cutting health care for young workers, both college and high school graduates

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3. Factors driving wage stagnation and inequality

CEO pay grabs a larger share of wages

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CEOs now make 296 times what a typical worker earns

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The minimum wage would be over $18 had it risen along with productivity

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Decline in union membership mirrors income gains of top 10%

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Global integration with low-wage countries, accelerated by particular trade policies (e.g., admission of China to the World Trade Organization in the late 1990s) has adversely affected wages of non–college educated workers. The erosion of labor standards (beyond the decline in the real value of the minimum wage) and weak enforcement have also put downward pressure on wages. Extensive wage theft, worker misclassification, weakened prevailing wage laws and overtime protections, and the failure to modernize our labor standards to provide sick leave, family leave, or minimum vacation schedules all hurt wage growth. The increased presence of undocumented workers who are vulnerable to employer exploitation also undercuts not only the wages of these workers but also those in similar fields.

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