A recent blog post from the Broadbent Institute argues that part of creating middle class jobs must be improving the quality of precarious low income jobs.
A comparison of occupations and wages revealed that less than half of the core work force – those between 25 and 54 – is employed in occupations that could be considered middle class.
Over half of the core work force are in jobs with lower average incomes.
With less than half the jobs held by people in the core work force currently considered middle class, the post argues improving education and skills training will have limited impact. Instead, just as unionization of the manufacturing sector turned many poorly paid jobs into middle class ones, an industrial strategy that reduces inequality must allow people to improve conditions and wages for existing poorer paid jobs.