Worker Pay Has Not Kept Pace With Productivity

From the Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epi.org/):

EPI research has shown that the pay of American workers has not kept pace with their hourly productivity. In fact, the average worker would be earning $10 per hour more than their current wage if hourly wages had kept up with hourly productivity.

This lost pay is a direct result  of employers’ successful efforts to keep wage growth down over the past 40 years. Hourly pay and productivity used to track closely together up until the late 1970’s when they began to sharply diverge.

Take a look at EPI’s animated chart below that shows that workers have faced 40 years of grossly unequal wage growth.

The flat wages shown in the chart represent money lost by workers and their families. Money they should have received in a fairer economy. The good news is that President Biden seems to understand the problem. It was recent reported that in a 2008 conversation the then Vice-President referenced EPI’s chart when he told top advisor and former EPI staffer Jared Bernstein that this problem “is what I want to work on.”

Thank you for all you do to fight for an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few.