A new EPI report details how the top 0.1% have increased their annual wages in recent decades by staggering levels, while the bottom 90% have seen their wages redistributed upwards―frequently to the very highest 1.0% and 0.1%. 
 
In the four decades since inequality started growing, 1979 through 2019, working people who make up "the bottom 90%" saw annual wages grow by just 26% throughout that entire period―from $30,880 in 1979 to just $38,923 in 2019. 
 
Meanwhile, the top 1% saw their wages grow by 160%. And wages for the tippy-top 0.1%―the very highest earners among us―saw their annual wages increase by an astounding 345.2%―from $649,725 to nearly $2.9 million.
 
This disparity in wage growth underscores the urgent need to rebuild worker power and boost wage growth for working people. And that’s exactly what EPI is fighting for every day, through critical research and policies to build an economy for our future.
 
None of this research and analysis is possible without the support of thousands of grassroots supporters. Join me in making a year-end contribution to EPI to continue producing the essential economic research that is needed to raise wages and advance our shared progressive economic agenda.
 
This chart, based on the conclusions of our new report, highlights the incredible wage disparity in the U.S.: