Do Higher Wages Mean Higher Standards of Living?
A recent macroblog post used Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker data to observe that the hourly wage of the lowest-paid workers has rebounded ( ) in recent years after declining for a decade.
The chart below depicts ( ) this finding, showing the median ( ) hourly wage ( ) of the lowest-paid ( ) 25 percent of workers in the Tracker sample relative ( ) to the median for all workers.
Moreover, the post showed that this recovery was not just a story about states and localities ( ) increasing their minimum wages. It also appears that there has been a significant tightening in the labor market for unskilled or low-skilled jobs.
Taken at face value, this is good news for workers employed in low-wage jobs.
But here's the rub ( ): the median wage in the first quartile ( ) is still low—$11.50 in 2019, or 55 percent of the overall median wage.
Moreover, these are hourly wages before taxes and transfers ( ).
They don't represent what is happening to these workers' ability to make ends meet ( ), which depends crucially on income after taxes and transfers.
For households at the bottom of the income distribution, means-tested ( ) transfers can play an especially important role.
The size of the transfers tends to decrease as earnings ( ) increase, and they stop altogether when a worker exceeds income- and asset-eligibility thresholds ( ).
The interaction between changes in earnings and various means-tested public assistance programs is an important public policy issue, and it is one that staff at the Atlanta Fed are studying.
薪資成長代表生活水準提高？
理財網站macroblog最近發布一則公告，使用亞特蘭大聯邦儲備銀行的薪資成長追蹤數據，觀察到每小時最低工資持續幾十年來的下滑，終於在近幾年開始反彈。
以下圖表所顯示的結果，呈現前25%低的時薪中位數樣本，和所有時薪樣本中位數之間的關係。
此外，該公告顯示這波復甦不只是探討最低薪資在各州與地方的成長，更指出低技術或無技術勞動市場明顯地緊縮。
表面的價值觀看來，這對從事低薪行業的勞工來說是個好消息。
但難處在於：前四分之一低的時薪中位數仍處在低處—如2019年為11.5元，同時也是前55%低的時薪中位數。
不只如此，這些薪資還是不包含稅和生活津貼(又稱「轉移收入」)。
他們沒有說的是，這些勞工的工作能力如何導致他們生活在薪資結構的底層，只能拮据地仰賴稅後收入和生活津貼。
對分配在薪資結構底層的家庭來說，透過資格審查才能獲得的生活津貼對他們是非常重要的。
生活津貼的多寡隨著收入提高而降低，當收入和資產達到一定的標準時，他們就不再有生活津貼。
收入的變化和眾多具資格審查的公共補助計畫，相互影響之下成為公共政策中的一大問題，也是亞特蘭大聯邦儲備銀行職員正在進行的研究。
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