What’s Keeping Middle Class Salaries Low?

Between 1979 and 2024, productivity in the U.S. soared by 80.9%, while hourly pay grew by just 29.4% during the same period. In June 2024, two-thirds of middle-income households reported that their income was falling behind the cost of living. This trend has often been referred to as ‘wage stagnation’. But more recently, economists have suggested that deliberate policy decisions have actively suppressed worker’s wage growth. So what exactly is preventing the middle class from earning a higher paycheck?

Chapters:
1:06 Policies, location and globalization
5:53 Employment conditions
9:16 Politics

Produced by: Juhohn Lee
Edited by: Andrea Miller
Animation: Jason Reginato
Supervising Producer: Lindsey Jacobson
Additional Footage: Getty Images, Kyle Connolly

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What’s Keeping Middle Class Salaries Low?