Why middle-class wages aren't growing
Between 1979 and 2024, productivity in the U.S. soared by 80.9%, while hourly pay grew by just 29.4%, according to a research by the Economic Policy Institute. This trend has often been referred to as wage stagnation. But more recently, economists have suggested that deliberate policy decisions have actively suppressed workers' wage growth. So what exactly is preventing the middle class from earning a higher paycheck?
Between 1979 and 2024, productivity in the U.S. soared by 80.9%, while hourly pay grew by just 29.4%, according to a research by the Economic Policy Institute. This trend has often been referred to as wage stagnation. But more recently, economists have suggested that deliberate policy decisions have actively suppressed workers' wage growth. So what exactly is preventing the middle class from earning a higher paycheck?
