37% of U.S. Workers Saw Real Wages Fall from 2021–2024, Study Finds
New paper shows that 37% of workers in US saw real wages decline from 2021-2024 [pdf]
A new working paper from the University of Chicago and ADP Research uses payroll data on 16 million U.S. workers to show that most firms kept annual raises anchored to pre-inflation norms, causing real wages to fall for many job-stayers. 43% of workers who stayed with the same employer saw real wage declines, with an average loss of 9%. Job-changers fared better, but not enough to offset the overall trend: 37% of all workers experienced real wage declines from 2021 to 2024. The paper argues that incomplete wage indexation, not inflation itself, explains persistent consumer dissatisfaction.
Even accounting for job-changers, 37 percent of all workers saw real wages decline over the 4-year period.