Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Changes in Low Wage Labor Markets
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)Changes in Low-Wage Labor Markets Between 1979 and 2005
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=7693&sequence=0&from=7
This paper documents changes in the lower half of the hourly wage distribution between 1979 and 2005 and analyzes the reasons for those changes. It then describes the characteristics of low-wage jobs and of workers in those jobs, and it examines how the household income of such workers has changed over the past quarter century. The analysis focuses on two periods: before and after 1990. The year 1990 was chosen for expositional simplicity, not because it represented a specific turning point in the labor market. For example, the 10th percentile of real hourly wage rates grew rapidly beginning in about 1995, while the ratio of the median to the 10th percentile of wages peaked in 1988.
News Source: Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=7693&sequence=0&from=7
This paper documents changes in the lower half of the hourly wage distribution between 1979 and 2005 and analyzes the reasons for those changes. It then describes the characteristics of low-wage jobs and of workers in those jobs, and it examines how the household income of such workers has changed over the past quarter century. The analysis focuses on two periods: before and after 1990. The year 1990 was chosen for expositional simplicity, not because it represented a specific turning point in the labor market. For example, the 10th percentile of real hourly wage rates grew rapidly beginning in about 1995, while the ratio of the median to the 10th percentile of wages peaked in 1988.
News Source: Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell University
# posted by Digital Library Sphere @ 8:18 AM 
