I suspect you’re right. When we bargain (healthcare decay) we get percentage increases. So people on a higher wage get a larger increase than those on a lower.
I think a good way to test this is to look at minimum wage.
Since 1997, when minimum wage was $7, it has grown to $23.15 in 2024 (sorry, the data I used only went to 2024 and I didn’t think to grab the 2025 number).
The “average” here is 4.9% per year. I use “average” in quotes as it’s the value needed each year to reach the end number (the Compound Annual Growth Rate), not actually an average. I used this calculator: https://cagrcalculator.net/
I wonder what the distribution of that what growth is over the wave range.
My cynical suspicion is that most of that growth is at the upper end… I.e. the people at the low end, most affected by inflation, don’t keep up.
I suspect you’re right. When we bargain (healthcare decay) we get percentage increases. So people on a higher wage get a larger increase than those on a lower.
I think a good way to test this is to look at minimum wage.
Since 1997, when minimum wage was $7, it has grown to $23.15 in 2024 (sorry, the data I used only went to 2024 and I didn’t think to grab the 2025 number).
The “average” here is 4.9% per year. I use “average” in quotes as it’s the value needed each year to reach the end number (the Compound Annual Growth Rate), not actually an average. I used this calculator: https://cagrcalculator.net/