
Wage earnings are the largest source of income for many workers, and wage gains are a primary lever for raising living standards. Reports of stagnant median wages have therefore raised concerns among some that economic growth over the last several decades has not translated into gains for all worker groups. To shed light on recent patterns, this report estimates inflation-adjusted wage trends at the 10th, 50th (median), and 90th percentiles of the wage distributions for the workforce as a whole and for several demographic groups, and it explores changes in educational attainment and occupation for these groups over the 1979 to 2016 period.Key findings of this report include:Real wages rose at the top of the distribution, whereas wages stagnated or fell at the bottom. Real (inflation-adjusted) wages at the 90th percentile increased over 1979 to 2016 for the workforce as a whole and across sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity. However, at the 90th percentile, wage growth was much higher for white men and women and lower for black and Hispanic men. By contrast, middle and bottom wages grew to a lesser degree or declined in real terms.The gender wage gap narrowed, but other gaps did not. From 1979 to 2016, the gap between the women's median wage and men's median wage became smaller. Gaps expanded between the wages for black and white workers and for Hispanic and non-Hispanic workers.Real wages fell for workers with lower levels of educational attainment and rose for highly educated workers. Wages for workers with a high school diploma or less education declined in real terms at the top, middle, and bottom of the wage distribution, whereas wages rose for workers with at least a college degree. The wage value of a college degree (relative to a high school education) increased markedly over 1979-2000. Education and occupation patterns appear to be important to wage trends. With few exceptions, worker groups were more likely to have earned a bachelor's or advanced degree in 20
Page Count:
38
Publication Date:
2018-03-07
ISBN-10:
1986288773
ISBN-13:
9781986288774
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