The case against the doom-and-gloom view for American workers
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American workers have done far better over the last five decades than conventional wisdom would have it, a new report argues.
Why it matters: There's no doubt the U.S. has plenty of problems, as does its workforce — but those problems come against a backdrop of steadily rising prosperity since the early 1990s, the Economic Innovation Group finds.
What they're saying: "Simply put: The American worker is doing better than at any time on record across a vast array of important measures," wrote Adam Ozimek, John Lettieri, and Benjamin Glasner with Washington-based EIG, a centrist think tank.
- The median worker is paid more in inflation-adjusted terms than ever before, workplaces have never been safer nor offered better benefits, and workers enjoy longer tenures with their employers than they did in the 1980s and '90s, the report's authors found.
- "There is simply no credible case that the typical worker is systematically more precarious, overworked, underpaid, or dissatisfied than they were in some bygone era," they wrote.
Between the lines: The report acts as a rejoinder to researchers on the political left and right who argue that real wages have been stagnant for decades as American workers have not shared the fruits of a more productive economy.
- A viral chart that often makes the rounds on social media shows persistent divergence between labor productivity and wages. But that chart relies on a faulty measurement of inflation — the headline Consumer Price Index, which exaggerates price increases over long time periods.
Zoom in: The report finds that while wages did stagnate from 1980 to 1993, they have moved steadily upward since then — through three decades, three recessions, and five presidential administrations across both parties.
💠Our thought bubble: The idea that the recent past wasn't some panacea for workers rings true, having grown up middle-class in the 1980s. I sometimes think about how our lives — as the children of reasonably well-off professionals — compare with families of similar standing now.
- Back then, the houses were tiny, the furniture was decrepit, the cars broke down all the time, and few traveled farther than the family station wagon would take them.
Yes, but: Women fared much better than men since 1980, with inflation-adjusted hourly pay rising 60% for women versus 16% for men, EIG found.
- The share of working-age men in the labor force has drifted downward in that span, from 94% in 1980 to 89% in 2023.
- This likely reflects widening opportunities for women, shifting family structures, and worsening opportunities in traditionally male fields that require brawn.
The bottom line: It's easy to have a gauzy recollection of the past, and there are certainly aspects of modern life that are harder than they once were. But being clear-eyed about how Americans fare today versus in decades past gives a sunnier picture.
Go deeper: See also accompanying essays (mostly) agreeing with the report from conservative economist Michael Strain and liberal economist Paul Krugman.
