Rich/poor wage gap growing
Since the recession ended nearly three years ago, the top 10 percent of earners in America have seen their pay rise 7 percent before inflation, while those in the bottom 10 percent have seen their earnings increase only 2.5 percent.
The growing gap between the highest and lowest-paid workers continues a pre-downturn trend, one that’s been widening for decades, according to The Wall Street Journal, using data from the U.S. Labor Department.
From 2003 to 2007, the difference in pay increases between top and bottom earners was 3.5 percent.
Possible reasons?
Globalization and the rise of technology
“Globalization has shifted many of America’s low-skilled, high-paid manufacturing jobs overseas, while technology has made U.S. firms more productive but rendered some jobs obsolete. The result: America’s labor market increasingly looks divided between jobs that require high education and those that don’t,” the report states.
Not everyone thinks this is so alarming, though. Some experts say there hasn’t been an erosion of upward social mobility from the lower to the middle class in the last half-century. The gap has been the subject of political debate, however.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
10 comments Add your comment
jms
April 18th, 2012
11:14 am
Education is key. Always has been.
the h
April 18th, 2012
11:19 am
I have been in the same socio-economic class for the past 50 years. I wanted into the upper echelons of society, and I had a plan. I would play the stock market. I put my meager portfolio all on one stock. It started at $117,000 and over two hours went to $137,000. Instead of selling I figured it would be worth even more the next day. It opened at $87,000. I had lost $50,000 overnight.
It is challenging getting into the upper classes. They act like they want you in, but without the big bucks it doesn’t work.
I have even thought of working, but it is so common.
northern neighbor
April 18th, 2012
11:50 am
The top 10% are typically entrepreneurial and driven, sometimes they are even smarter and work harder. The bigger the market (say globalization) the bigger the opportunity and reward, hence the steep increase in their ‘earnings’. The rest of us just plod along with 0-3% annual raises, maybe a promotion here or there. But we do nothing dramatic like create new products or enter new markets or start new companies.
Bobby
April 18th, 2012
11:56 am
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer for the same reasons they got where they are in the first place.
saywhat?
April 18th, 2012
12:29 pm
To turn $10,000 into $100,000 takes long, long hours of hard,hard work, determination and usually some smarts.
To turn $1,000,000 into $10,000,000 is inevitable.
monroe s
April 19th, 2012
2:12 am
the government needs raise taxes a lot higher on rich people making more than 100,000—they have plenty of money and need to pay a lot more taxes—low income people need a lot more government benefits in this bad economy, especially minorities. I’m tired of rich people having all this money.
Nobama
April 19th, 2012
9:05 am
Another day in the 1%. Ahhhhh. Should I drive the Benz or the Bimmer to lunch today at The Club?
Nobama
April 19th, 2012
9:07 am
Yo Monroe,
As Margaret Thatcher (you can look her up at the Library) once said, “sooner of later you run out of other people’s money”…………….After that, you print more and borrow from China.
Jerome
April 19th, 2012
10:19 am
The reason the rich are rich and the poor are poor boils down to one key thing…….CHOICES. For example, how many people have you seen win the lottery and are flat broke in a few years…….CHOICES. Poor people are poor because they continue to make POOR choices and rich are rich because they make RICH choices.
Default Settings 2.0
April 20th, 2012
12:27 pm
You have to put in more than 40 hours a week. Sales jobs are a good way to earn better than average pay. Outside sales let’s you take advantage of other opportunities in the normal business day.