A reader thinks we need more data points concerning real wage growth, or its lack thereof:
That graph needs one showing income and wages for others. Considering that’s all wiggling around in an area less than 2% wide, it doesn’t really say much.
To my mind, it says it all: blue collar wages, in real terms and to the extent that our inflation measures measure something useful, have remained stagnant since at least 1966. One of the best ways to move up from blue collar is to get a college level education. But what if the cost of higher education is rising faster than the general inflation rate? And, if you believe the Edvisors website, it has from 1977 – 2013:
That has pushed education further and further out of the reach of the blue collar segment. Of course, there are scholarships and grants and loans, but these are basically ways for various groups to control who gets to go to college, and who does not – rather than letting the students decide if they want to go to college or not. I suppose if your decision would be negative anyways, then it doesn’t matter so much.
So this is just one example of the problem of stagnant real wages for blue collar workers – they’re stuck in a hole that it’s difficult, even impossible, to dig your way out of.
