From the Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epi.org/):
Wage inequality is on the rise. This is according to a new report by EPI’s Elise Gould, which analyzes wage trends between 2000 and 2018.
According to Gould’s research, since the start of the Great Recession, the strongest wage growth has continued to be within the top 10 percent of wage earners.
This chart shows that, in recent years, even as wages have grown at the bottom, top wage earners continue to pull away.
This chart shows that the majority of wage gains since 2000 have gone to the top 10 percent of workers.
While the Hispanic-white wage gap has remained fairly constant over the last 18 years, the black-white wage gap was significantly larger in 2018 (16.2 percent) than it was in 2000 (10.2 percent).
Meanwhile the gender wage gap fell slightly in 2018—with the typical woman paid 84 cents on the dollar compared to men—but only because wages fell for the typical man.
Between 2017 and 2018, men in the top 5 percent saw large wage gains, while those at the middle and very bottom of their wage distribution experienced downright losses.
It’s up to us to continue to demand policies that raise the wages of all working people—such as a federal $15 minimum wage and paid family leave—and for the Federal Reserve to hold off on any further interest rate increases and allow the economy to continue to grow.
Thank you for standing with us as we demand an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
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