right shows what happens when we sum up
the total growth in compensation across the
earnings spectrum, decade by decade, and
calculate the share that has been diverted to
benefits.
that most of the productivity bonus built into
total compensation was being diverted to
cover benefit costs, especially among low-
wage workers. The 1990s, by contrast, were
perceived as a period in which the rising tide
of prosperity was lifting all boats. During that
decade, most of the compensation rewards
were being delivered in the form of higher
wages because the benefits components were
under control. In the 2000s, we reverted to a
situation akin to the 1980s, albeit one in
which the burden of exploding benefit costs
was distributed more evenly across the in-
come spectrum. Still, the perception was that
lower- and middle-income workers were not
getting their due from rising productivity.
Earlier we cited the analysis of Mishel, Bern-
stein and Shierholz at the Economic Policy
Institute, who found that American workers
had not been rewarded for their productivity
contributions. They argued that the combi-
nation of very small increases in real earnings