New Study Finds that Wage Growth for the Middle Class has Slowed Under Trump & How to Fix It

A new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute [EPI], a think tank based in Washington, found that wage growth for the middle class has slowed during the Trump administration compared to the last three years of the Obama presidency.

Newsweek: "Middle-class incomes grew at a rate of 2.7 percent from 2016 through 2018, compared to a 5.8 percent growth rate from 2014 through 2016 when accounting for inflation."

The study belies the President's claims about American workers being better off as the result of his economic policies. Moreover, it supports other research that shows that average workers got almost nothing from Trump's 2017 corporate tax cuts. Instead of using the savings to increase wages for middle class workers, corporations used the money to buy back shares of company stock, further enriching large shareholders. In other words, the savings from the corporate tax reductions didn't "trickle down" to workers.

EPI's study also found that when taking inflation into account, the real median household income actually declined during the Trump administration in Alaska, West Virginia, South Dakota, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Connecticut.

Newsweek: "Despite what we heard at the State of the Union, the truth is that this economy is not performing well for most Americans," says Thea Lee, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI). "At this point in the business cycle, wage and income growth for working households should be accelerating, not slowing."...

... "EPI's Lee argues that Trump has taken steps that have hurt the middle class, including the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the overturning of regulations like overtime protection that shore up workers' paychecks. "The current administration's focus on cutting taxes for the wealthy, expanding tax incentives for outsourcing, and undercutting workers' rights has left ordinary working households in most states barely gaining ground," notes Lee."

Democratic candidates have a window of opportunity to win over blue collar voters this Fall if they offer a platform that includes policies that will actually help middle class workers such as increasing the minimum wage, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, making higher education and job training affordable, guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, supporting pro-union initiatives, subsidizing childcare costs, providing overtime protection for "salaried" workers, and initiating a real national infrastructure program.

We don't need additional "trickle down" policies that enrich those that have already done quite well during the Trump administration.

#news #research #economics

By: Don Lam & Curated Content