> I don't buy this explanation. Very few employees are paid in any financially complex way.
I don't think the point has anything to do with the complexity of the wages, but how workers are generally hired and paid, and how work is now structured, compared to the 70s, e.g. nowadays there are more contractors than ever, taking a good chunk of the wages as they act as intermediaries between customers and the workers who, otherwise, would have to be hired directly by the customers themselves.
I'm curious though about why would you think that illegal immigration is driving wages down. Undocumented immigrants make barely for 3% of the total US population [1], and that does not account for those who cannot work (elderly, children, disabled, etc.) Same goes for women, as the general issue is that household income is in decline, in relative terms to the economy [2].
Automation should also be making consumer products cheaper and more available, but prices are not going down at the same speed as wages need to go up.
I don't think the point has anything to do with the complexity of the wages, but how workers are generally hired and paid, and how work is now structured, compared to the 70s, e.g. nowadays there are more contractors than ever, taking a good chunk of the wages as they act as intermediaries between customers and the workers who, otherwise, would have to be hired directly by the customers themselves.
I'm curious though about why would you think that illegal immigration is driving wages down. Undocumented immigrants make barely for 3% of the total US population [1], and that does not account for those who cannot work (elderly, children, disabled, etc.) Same goes for women, as the general issue is that household income is in decline, in relative terms to the economy [2].
Automation should also be making consumer products cheaper and more available, but prices are not going down at the same speed as wages need to go up.
[1] https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/how-many-und...
[2] https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insight...