Differences and changes in wage structures (original) (raw)
Earnings inequality increased substantially in the United States in the 1980s, and the real earnings of many groups of workers, primarily men, fell from the early 1970s through the early 1990s. In 1993, about 16 percent of the nation's year-round, full-time workers were labeled as low-wage workers by the U.S. Department of Commerce, earning less than the poverty level for a family of four ($13,483 per year in 1993 dollars)-an increase of approximately 33 percent over the 12 percent who had low earnings in 1979. Less educated young men suffered unprecedented losses in real earnings. Despite their costing employers less, however, these men were less likely to work at any point in time than in the past. In short, in the 1980s, if not earlier, the U.S. labor market experienced a massive twist against the less skilled and lower paid that reduced their living standards.
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