Some realities and trends I find disturbing, as gleaned from Harper’s Index over the past few years:
- Hypothetical median income of full-time U.S. workers [2020] if income were distributed as evenly as it was in 1975: $92,000. Actual median income of full-time U.S. workers: $50,000. (Guess which direction the differential is skewered.)
- Percentage of U.S. manufacturing jobs that required a bachelor’s degree in 1983: 14. That required one in 2018: 31.
- Percentage of Americans who believe that a four-year college degree is not worth the cost: 56. (Are employers who expect a degree holder for a low-paying job getting a free ride?)
- Portion of all U.S. student-loan debt that is held by women: 2/3. (Does that reflect gender pay differences in similar jobs?)
- Percentage of unpaid taxes that are owed by the richest one percent of Americans: 70.
- Average percentage of their fortunes that the twenty richest Americans gave to charity in 2018: 0.8.
- Factor by which the average cost of a home in the United States is higher than the average salary: 8. (And the guidelines I grew up with said don’t go over 25 percent of your income. So now it’s twice that?)
- Percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who live with one or both of their parents: 52.
- Rank of workers 75 or older among the fastest growing demographics in the U.S. workforce: 1.
- Percentage increase since 2020 in the amount of work employees are doing outside of the nine-to-five workday: 28.
Jnana's Red Barn 