The Squeezed Middle: The Pressure on Ordinary Workers in America and Britain

ISBN-13: 9781447308935 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 184 str.

Sophia Parker

Opis

The issue of living standards is arguably the biggest challenge facing economists and politicians in the United States and the United Kingdom today. The product of a year-long fellowship at Harvard University s Kennedy School of Government, "The Squeezed Middle" brings together leading experts from both sides of the Atlantic to ask what the UK can learn from the US experience of stagnating wages and rising living costs.
American workers have not benefited from growth for an entire generation: adjusting for inflation, the averageAmerican worker today earns as much as the average American worker did in 1975. During the last decade British workers have had a similar experience they can no longer assume that when the economy grows their wages will grow with it. With contributions from a number of leading economic and policy thinkers, this collection analyzes the impact of different policies on those with low to middle incomes and explains what lessons the UK can learn from America s so-called lost generation. A timely and crucial book, it is essential reading for anyone concerned about the living standards crisis and will have great relevance to policy makers and researchers in the UK, United States, and beyond.
"

Spis treści

Foreword by Gavin Kelly and Jared Bernstein; Introduction ~ Sophia Parker; Section 1: Setting the scene: a rising tide no longer lifts all boats; A lost decade, not a burst bubble: the declining living standards of middle-class households in the US and Britain ~ Larry Mishel and Heidi Shierholz; Rising incomes and modest inequality: the high employment route ~ Lane Kenworthy; Section 2: Policy lessons: creating quality work, raising incomes and building greater economic security; Improving job quality in low-paid jobs: care workers in the US ~ Eileen Appelbaum and Carrie Leana; Employment change and economic vulnerability in the US ~ Francoise Carre and James Heintz; New evidence and new directions for promoting labour market advancement for low and modest earners ~ Jim Riccio; Boosting the pay packets of low- to middle-income families ~ Daniel P. Gitterman; Strategies to expand the affordable private rental stock ~ Keith Wardrip; Insulating middle-income households from economic insecurity: why savings matter, and how we can increase them ~ Joanna Smith-Ramani and Preeti Mehta; Section 3: Looking ahead: a cautionary tale; The path to post-recession prosperity ~ Tamara Draut; How US politics is undermining the American Dream, and what it means for the UK ~ Jacob S. Hacker; Conclusion: learning the lessons ~ Vidhya Alakeson.