Bernie Sanders Says 'American Workers Are Angry' Because Wages Haven't Kept Up—'They Are Lower Today Than They Were 52 Years Ago'

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says American workers are frustrated and they have a good reason to be. 

In a recent post on X, Sanders pointed out that despite decades of rising worker productivity, inflation-adjusted wages are lower today than they were 52 years ago. At the same time, he noted a massive transfer of wealth from the bottom 90% to the top 1%, calling the situation unacceptable. "The status quo is NOT working. We need real change," he wrote.

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A Growing Gap Between Productivity and Pay

The Economic Policy Institute backs up Sanders’ claims. According to a recent EPI report, U.S. productivity has surged by 86.5% from 1979 to 2024, while hourly pay for typical workers only grew by 31.7% over the same period. That means productivity has grown nearly three times faster than wages, creating a wide gap between the value workers produce and what they take home.

The EPI argues this gap is not an accident but a result of policy decisions that reduced worker bargaining power, weakened unions, and shifted more wealth to capital owners. The report points out that this shift has resulted in slower economic growth overall, with typical workers missing out on the benefits of rising productivity.

"The growing wedge between productivity and typical workers' pay is income going everywhere but the paychecks of the bottom 80% of workers," the EPI said. "If it didn't end up in paychecks of typical workers, where did all the income growth implied by the rising productivity line go? Two places, basically. It went into the salaries of highly paid corporate and professional employees. And it went into higher profits (returns to shareholders and other wealth owners)."

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Longer Hours, Shorter Lives

Sanders has also recently raised concerns about the health impact of economic stress. In a recent report from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, he highlighted a growing life expectancy gap between the wealthy and the working class. The report found that Americans in the wealthiest 1% of counties live an average of 84.3 years, while those in the bottom 50% of counties live only 77.4 years.

One stark example from the report shows that Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the wealthiest counties in the U.S., has a life expectancy of 84 years, while McDowell County, West Virginia, one of the poorest, has a life expectancy of just 69 years—a 15-year difference despite being only about 350 miles apart.

"Stress kills," Sanders said, adding that these disparities are unacceptable in a wealthy country like the U.S. "The massive income and wealth inequality that exists in America today is not just an economic issue, it is literally a matter of life and death."

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Closing the Gap

To address these issues, Sanders has proposed a series of policy changes aimed at boosting workers’ pay and improving their quality of life. These include raising the minimum wage to at least $17 an hour, implementing Medicare for All, expanding Social Security, providing paid family leave, and making education more affordable.

Sanders argues that these steps are essential if the U.S. is to close the growing gap between the rich and the working class and ensure that all Americans can share in the nation’s prosperity.

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