The Economic Case for Saving America’s Middle Class
By Stacy Curtin
05/30/11
It seems like week after week there is new evidence highlighting the decline of America's middle class.
The latest is a report by the Employment Policy Research Network which found that over the last thirty years, American workers have increased labor productivity by 78 percent, while wages for many have fallen or have remained stagnant.
Here are some examples:
* 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.
Earlier this month The Daily Ticker featured another set of stunning facts published by the New America Foundation. (See: America's Middle Class Crisis: The Sobering Facts)
This hollowing out of the middle class obviously did not happen overnight. The income gap has been widening since the late 1970s. But fast forward to today, there's a big concern from some economists who say a vibrant middle class is much more than just a social issue -- it is critical to the stability of the U.S. economy...
For the full article. go to:
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/economic-case-saving-america-middle-class-131202947.html
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