The low wage economy

[stpioc]

And we know from the previous entry that these low wages are concentrated, depressing many local economies as people simply don't have much purchasing power beyond bare necessities. 

At the very least, work is supposed to be a means to earning an income. But if it’s possible to work full time and still live in poverty, what’s the point? Even before the global financial crisis of 2008, it had become clear that if waged work is supposed to provide a measure of well-being and social structure, it has failed on its own terms. Real household wages in the United States have remained stagnant since the 1970s, even as the costs of university degrees and other credentials rise.

Young people find an employment landscape defined by unpaid internships, temporary work, and low pay. The glut of degree-holding young workers has pushed many of them into the semi- or unskilled labor force, making prospects even narrower for non–degree holders. Entry-level wages for high school graduates have in fact fallen. According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, these lost earnings will depress this generation’s wages for their entire working lives.

Meanwhile, those at the very top—many of whom derive their wealth not from work, but from returns on capital—vacuum up an ever-greater share of prosperity.

The United States of Work | New Republic