The following is cross-posted from an e-blast by Democracy Corps:
We wanted to get to you this new report on The New American Economy. It is really important, first, because of what President Obama is saying about the broken link between productivity and wages and the fact that most people have not gotten a pay increase since 1999. This report underscores that jobs that don’t pay enough to live on is now the starting point of the new economy. The analysis of the past is very important, but for people, they are focused on the present and future, which starts with jobs that don’t pay enough. When the president talks about the recovery, like “we’ve fought our way back,” and “there’s more work to do” — that does not click. They think this is a new economy, not a recovery. The voter might be right.
Second, it is important because this study comes out at a time of major studies on what is happening with work, incomes, and social mobility. One Harvard and Berkeley study suggests a child born in poverty in one city does not have the same chance of climbing the economic ladder in another. And an AP report released this week shows 4 out of 5 adults in the U.S struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least part of their lives.
And third, it comes out at a time when many minimum wage workers are conducting rolling one-day walkouts to underscore what is happening with wages. This report is the context for those events.
Democracy Corps and the Roosevelt Institute are happy to share this report with you.