This extreme compensation ratio reflects both the extraordinary growth of CEO pay and also the diminishing value of the federal minimum wage that has not been raised since 1997: adjusting for inflation, the purchasing power of the minimum wage is now at its lowest since 1955.
The ratio wasn't always so extreme. As recently as 1978, CEOs were paid only 78 times as much as minimum wage earners.
Written by Economic Policy Institute (EPI) president Lawrence Mishel.
2 comments:
How would you respond to the position that an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit would be a much more equitable way of helping the working poor than an increase in the minimum wage?
Millions of families who are eligible for the tax credit do not receive it, leaving billions of additional tax credit dollars uncollected. Research by the General Accounting Office (GAO) and Internal Revenue Service indicates that between 15% and 25% of households who are entitled to the EITC do not claim their credit, or between 3.5 million and 7 million households.
The average EITC amount received per family in 2002 was $1,766. Using this figure and a 15% unclaimed rate would mean that low-wage workers and their families lost out on more than $6.5 billion, or more than $12 billion if the unclaimed rate is 25%.
I got that from Wikipedia.
So, I would respond by saying that the EITC is confusing and doesn't work very well and everyone who works is entitled to a living wage. The minimum wage hasn't been increased in a decade and needs to be increased - now.
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