6 Ways to Boost the Middle Class
Pro-Middle Class Policies That Won’t Cost the Government Anything
In this era of painful spending cuts, it often feels like there’s little political space to get much done to help the middle class — or anyone else. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case. Our Center for American Progress colleagues put together six pro-middle class policies that won’t cost the government anything.Here’s the short version and a few charts:
- Increase the Minimum Wage
Since 1968 the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage has declined by 31 percent.The minimum wage would be more than $10.50 per hour today if it had kept up with inflation. This decrease has occurred even as workers have become more productive. Over the same period of time, productivity—the measure of output per hour of work—increased by 124 percent.
- Make Saving for Retirement Easier, Cheaper and More Secure
In order to help the middle class retire with dignity, we need to expand retirement coverage and improve the quality of retirement plans available. We can achieve these goals and improve the current retirement system by creating a new hybrid retirement plan type—the Secure, Accessible, Flexible, and Efficient Retirement Plan, or SAFE Retirement Plan, a hybrid between a traditional pension and a 401(k) plan—and opening the federal Thrift Savings Plan, the 401(k) for federal employees, to the public.
- Lower Monthly Housing Costs by Providing Homeowners with Principal Foregiveness
- Let All Workers Earn Paid Sick Days
- Make Sure That Workers Who Want to Form a Union Can Do So
But as unions became weaker over the past four decades—due in part to an unfair union election process—they became less able to perform these functions. The middle class has withered as a result, with the share of income going to the middle class falling alongside the percentage of workers in unions. (see Figure 5)
- Require Colleges to Provide Consumer Information Via College Scorecards
The federal government should require colleges and universities to do a better job of providing pertinent information to prospective students concerning their likelihood of graduating, finding employment, and paying off student debt. Schools should be required to direct students to this information on all promotional materials to allow students to easily compare schools.
For all of the wonky details, check out the full report HERE.
BOTTOM LINE: Instead of continuing the painful austerity spending cuts we’re currently living under, we can and should make needed investments in the middle class, such as expanding access to preschool and child care, as part of a package that reduces the deficit over the longer term. And there’s also no reason not to immediately put in place a set of pro-middle class, pro-growth policies that won’t require any additional federal spending.
http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/6-ways-to-boost-the-middle-class/?mobile=nc
No comments:
Post a Comment