And yet Republican policies have kept EVERY sector in America FLAT since Reagan, EXCEPT the rich!
GOP has been enriching the Rich and the Rich LOVE them for it!
The poor and middle classes have been getting butt-fucked by GOP policies.
Just LOOK at the charts!
Low-Wage Workers
With the exception of white women, wages at the 10th percentile fell in real terms over 1979-2018 for all low-wage worker groups, although the degree of loss varied by sex and race. In 1979, wages at the 10th percentile ranged from $10.03 for black and Hispanic women to $14.42 for white men, whereas in 2018 wages in the 10th percentile ranged from $9.72 for Hispanic women to $13.70 for white men. Men’s wages at the 10th percentile fell by 13.3% ($13.84 to $12.00) from 1979 to 2018.
Within the group of low-wage male earners, however, white men experienced the largest percentage decline from 1979 to 2018, a drop of 5.0% ($14.42 to $13.70), followed by a 2.5% decline for black men ($10.90 to $10.63) and a 2.2% decline for Hispanic men ($11.25 to $11.00).16 Women’s wages at the 10th percentile rose by 4.8% between 1979 and 2018, from $10.07 to $10.55. When looked at by race and ethnicity, it appears that the overall improvement in wages among low-wage women was driven by the gains (10.8%) in hourly earnings for white women ($10.38 to $11.50). For low-wage black women, 10th percentile wages fell modestly from $10.03 to $10.00, and for low-wage Hispanic women the decline was 3.1% ($10.03 to $9.72).
Middle-Wage Workers
Wage trends at the median (50th percentile) diverged sharply between men and women from 1979 to 2018. Overall, median wages for men fell by 5.1% but rose by 25.7% for women. In 1979, median wages ranged from $13.49 for Hispanic women to $25.95 for white men, whereas in 2018 median wages ranged from $15.00 for Hispanic women to $26.92 for white men. While median wages for white men rose by 3.7%, from $25.95 to $26.92, over the 1979 to 2018 period, median wages for black and Hispanic men fell. Median wages for black men fell by 8.0%, from $20.45 to $18.80, and for Hispanic men by 7.1%, from $19.38 to $18.00. Median wages for white women had the largest increase at 33.4% ($16.44 to $21.92), whereas median wages for black women increased by 16.0% ($14.43 to $16.73) and for Hispanic women by 11.2% ($13.49 to $15.00).
High-Wage Workers
At the 90th percentile, wages grew across all groups, but the magnitude and levels varied by sex and race. Overall, wages for men at the 90th percentile rose by 36.4% and for women by 66.7%. In 1979, wages at the 90th percentile ranged from $24.57 for Hispanic women to $43.25 for white men, whereas in 2018 wages at the 90th percentile ranged from $31.25 for Hispanic women to $67.31 for white men. Wages for white men at the 90th percentile rose by 55.6% from 1979 to 2018, from $43.25 to $67.31. Although wages at the 90th percentile for black and Hispanic men also rose over this period, they did not increase by as much. The 90th percentile wage for black men increased by 15.8% (from $34.60 to $40.06) and for Hispanic men by 8.1% ($33.91 to $36.64). White women at the 90th percentile experienced the largest percentage increase in wages of any group examined in this study, with wages increasing by 71.0%, from $28.11 to $48.08. Among black women, the 90th percentile wage increased by 46.9%, from $26.56 to $39.00, and for Hispanic women the increase was 27.2%, from $24.57 to $31.25.
Wage Gaps
Differential wage growth over 1979 to 2018 affected wage inequality within and between demographic groups. The superior wage growth at the 90th percentile, alongside weaker growth or declining wages at the bottom half of the distribution, translated into growing wage inequality within all demographic groups, but groups varied by the degree of increased inequality. For example, the 10th percentile wage for men was 32.0% of the 90th percentile male wage in 1979; in 2018 this ratio fell to 20.3% (i.e., the 10th percentile wage moved further away from the 90th percentile wage over time). Among white men, the ratio fell from 33.3% to 20.4% between 1979 and 2018, and from 31.5% to 26.5% for black men. For Hispanic men the ratio also declined, but more modestly, from 33.2% (in 1979) to 30.0% (in 2018).