Improving the Fortunes of America’s Working Class

• Date: 01 May 2021
• Published date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/00027162211036009
• Subject Matter: Policy Perspectives

ANNALS, AAPSS, 695, May 2021 331

DOI: 10.1177/00027162211036009

Improving the

Fortunes of

America’s

Working Class

By

GARY BURTLESS

and

ISABEL V. SAWHILL

1036009ANN The Annals Of The American AcademyImproving The Fortunes Of America’s Working Class

research-article2021

The prosperity of America’s working class depends on

trends in their employment and earnings, but also on

the social protection and income supplements they

receive as a result of government policy. Since 2000,

working-class wages climbed slowly once we account

for the increase in consumer prices. Nonetheless, the

total personal income of lower- and middle-income

families increased considerably faster than their wages.

As documented in the article, the income gains were in

part the result of rising fringe benefits from employers

and even more the result of rising government subsi-

dies for health insurance and social protection. The

article recommends a range of policies to increase the

pace of working-class income gains, including macroe-

conomic policies that increase the duration of economic

expansions, reforms in labor law to improve workers’

bargaining power, boosting the minimum wage, and

revising occupational training of non-college-educated

workers to boost their earning power.

Keywords: working class; earnings; social policy; mac-

roeconomic policy; work supports; Great

Recession

This article considers public policy

approaches to improve the well-being of

America’s working class. Some of our recom-

mendations are based on evidence offered in

other articles in this volume, but many build

upon our own understanding of the challenges

facing working-age Americans.

The fortunes of the working class depend on

trends in employment and wages, but also on

Gary Burtless is a senior fellow in economic studies at

the Brookings Institution. His research focuses on

issues connected with income distribution and poverty,

labor markets, and social insurance, and the behavioral

effects of government tax and transfer policy.

Isabel V. Sawhill is a senior fellow in economic studies

at the Brookings Institution, where her research spans

a wide array of economic and social issues, including

fiscal policy, economic growth, poverty, social mobility,

and inequality.

Correspondence: GBURTLESS@brookings.edu