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% 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