The Nation.



The Growing Wage Gap

By Jeff Madrick

This article appeared in the October 9, 2006 edition of The Nation.

September 21, 2006

Democratic squabbling is not confined these days to policies regarding torture, terrorism and the Iraq War. To the Republicans' delight, many Democrats, led by organizations like Third Way, which describes itself as a policy center to help progressives connect with moderates, are arguing that middle-class Americans have done just fine economically for a few decades. As one Third Way economist puts it, "What progressives generally say about the economy is unrelentingly pessimistic...[and] simply flat-out wrong." The Third Way and like-minded Democrats argue that the middle-class electorate will only be repelled this November by the pleas of some Democrats for more aggressive economic policies to aid the working and middle classes. Most Americans, they claim, are not experiencing the economic pressure progressives say they are, and want only modest new proposals for help.

Who is simply flat-out wrong? Large pockets of Americans have done poorly over the past thirty years. Typical black families earn only about 60 percent of what white families do, most of the gains of the last generation coming in the late 1990s. Women, whose wages have risen fairly consistently from low levels, still earn only 80 percent of what men do. The recent stagnation of wages may be most disturbing. Despite the nation's rapid economic growth in the past five years, a typical household's income is lower today than it was in 2000.

But the most serious victims of the economy of the past thirty-odd years have been men and high school graduates. The erosion of their economic prospects has been consistent and demoralizing. The median wage of all men, discounted for inflation ("real" median wages), remains lower today than it was in 1973. The median is the typical worker, right in the middle of the pack. This is bad enough. But the median male worker with only a high school diploma earns 14 percent less today, after deducting for inflation, than the median worker did in 1973.

Subscriber Login

4 ISSUES FREE

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

.

About Jeff Madrick

Jeff Madrick, editor of Challenge Magazine, is visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union and director of policy research at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School. more...

Popular Topics
Most Searched

Issues »

Most Emailed

Issues »

Blogs

» Campaign 08

McCain Denies He Was Ever Reasonable On Middle East | "Are you now or have you ever been diplomatic."
John Nichols

» J Street

Friday Capitol Letter | This week's round-up from Washington.
Te-Ping Chen

» ActNow!

No European Star Wars | Czech hunger strikers challenge Bush plan to deploy missile defense system in their homeland.
Peter Rothberg

» Editor's Cut

Pentagon, Pimps & Propaganda (continued) | The incestuous relationship between the government, the networks and so-called “independent” military analysts reveals the essence of a new military-media-industrial complex.
Katrina vanden Heuvel

» The Beat

California Decision Makes Same-Sex Marriage a 2008 Issue | Democrats need to recognize that social issues will be a part of the debate. And they need to get this one right.
John Nichols

» The Notion

Internet Gurus Flock to Harvard Conference | Blogging from the most important Internet gathering in the country.
Ari Melber

» Passing Through

The Disappearing Upper Class | Our focus on the "working class" vote highlights how oddly we use language to describe class in American politics.
Zephyr Teachout

» And Another Thing

Preachers and Politics | Secularism looks better and better.
Katha Pollitt