The Squeezed Middle: The Pressure on Ordinary Workers in America and Britain

As wages stagnate but living costs keep rising, the pressure on working

people grows more intense. The issue of living standards has become one of

the most urgent challenges for politicians in both Britain and America.

‘The squeezed middle’ brings together experts from both sides of the Atlantic

to ask what the UK can learn from the US. American workers have not

benefited from growth for an entire generation - the average American worker

earned no more in 2009 than in 1975. Now British workers are undergoing a

similar experience. No longer can they assume that when the economy grows

their wages will grow with it.

This collection brings together for the first time leading economic and

policy thinkers to analyse the impact of different policies on those on

low-to middle incomes and to explain what lessons the UK can learn from

America’s ‘lost generation’.

This timely book is essential reading for everyone concerned about the

living standards crisis, an issue which could decide elections as well as

shaping the future for millions of working families.