Trump Versus Clinton: What’s the Deal with the American Worker?
Is the average American suffering?
Donald Trump will tell you that they are. The picture he paints is that millions of hard-working Americans are losing their jobs, being taxed out of their homes, having their jobs shipped overseas where labor is less expensive. Trump declares that under our current government, taxes are only increasing. Businesses are fleeing the country in search of higher profit margins; to him it seems hard-working Americans can no longer afford to live in the houses they lived in for decades. In the youtube clip below, Trump clearly indicates his disdain with the American economy.
What does Hillary Clinton think? America is doing pretty well. Median incomes have gone up, with the gains felt particularly by those at the bottom of the income ladder. Federally funded programs are helping poorer citizens out of poverty, and into work. There is a growing technology industry that is just waiting to be filled by American workers. And the situation can improve yet! Loopholes on Wall Street bankers can still be closed, and the rich are still not paying their fair share of taxes. Below is an audio clip detailing her view regarding the future of the American economy.
In reality, the state of the American worker lies somewhere in between the two. Although many people feel Trumps’ assessment may be extensive, dramatic, and full of invective, his core argument about what is plaguing American workers holds up, as does many aspects of Clinton’s rosier view. The truth is complicated. In the audio poll below, average American workers were asked if they thought the government had their best interests at heart, and if they thought the government could do anything to improve their well-being. Their answers reflect in many ways why the 2016 presidential race is so close.
One man named Herbert, a small business owner working in a typewriter shop the size of a walk-in-closet, explicitly asked that his voice not be recorded. A fervent Trump supporter and long-time conservative, he most clearly expressed the distaste for the way the American economy is running. “Let me educate you,” he said, talking about his long-time support for conservative candidates. “I’m worried for the younger generation, and for their future. There’s a lot of competition out there. Hopefully you find good paying jobs.”
This articulates some of the reasons that Trump is such an attractive choice to so many voters. For one, Trump hits it on the head with the fact that manufacturing in America is on the decline. But there are a few things he fails to mention. Firstly, manufacture is not declining because of the policies of the Obama administration. Manufacturing is declining because it is a dying industry. There are jobs that are not coming back no matter who takes office, and Trump is deceiving the public in making them believe otherwise.
Click here to learn about these jobs — the ones that are being lost to the technology industry and being taken by machines.
Clinton argues that manufacturing has become more productive. Automation has made this possible. A robot arm is often more cost effective than a human one. It is no wonder the average American worker in the manufacturing industry feels a little bit dissatisfied and perhaps anxious — the employment of those in manufacturing (one of America’s largest industries) has declined 13% or more in the past decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and that decline shows no sign of slowing down.
Clinton’s more positive outlook on the economy is troubling in its own way. Her claim that median incomes have gone up intentionally neglects the fact that property taxes and inflation have increased as well. The median American wage has increased at about 2.5% per year, while inflation is around 1.5%. So, while the dollar amount of an average paycheck has increased, the value is the same, once one adjusts for inflation.That is to say, Americans are not making forward strides — they are just getting by.
This is what is known as “anemic” wage growth, and it has been a subject of many a Trump stump speech. And, because the growth of the national government, such as the increasing Obamacare premiums, income tax increases, and property tax increases, wages are worth even less, leaving some families to feel quite uneasy about the living conditions of foreseeable future. In the podcast below, one Long Island family discusses how they feel that the American dream has been ripped from them.
That being said, there is an upside to the large amount of capital at the disposal of the federal government: more money is given back to the people who need it most. This means quality child care programs, welfare, food stamps, affordable housing, and especially health care, which is now essentially guaranteed for all Americans. This is, for the most part, the trade-off that Americans have decided to make in the past few years — an increase of taxes and other expenses in order to increase the quality and quantity of government programs to help the poor and middle classes.
Unfortunately, however, many Americans are having trouble finding work; only 62.7% of adult Americans are working. This figure has not been so low since the 1970’s when significantly more women stayed at home and did not work.
Click here to see more about unemployment in America.
Now, this is not the case. Instead, able-bodied Americans simply cannot find work — whether they look for it or not. 2.1 million Americans cannot find a job, and have been actively looking for a year and a half or more. This is double the figure of “long term unemployed” that it should be with the current unemployment rate, which is cause for discontent for millions of Americans, who feel that it is harder than ever to find work for an extended period of time. Additionally, there is a group of 2.6 million Americans who want a job, but are not actively looking for work. This could be due to illness, caring for a family member, or simply because caring for children has become an onerous task. Whatever the reason, fewer Americans who want a job can find one, and both candidates are hearing an earful about it.
Many people measure their success in the answer to this question: Are you better off than your parents?
Some might say no: the government is overtaxing most of its citizens to the point where they cannot actually accumulate any wealth. Americans cannot find work for long periods of time. Once booming industries are dying, and the employment is leaving right along with it.
Others might say yes: the government now offers extensive programs to protect its poorest citizens, and to improve the lives of those in the middle class. The 3.5 people climbed out of poverty in the span of one year alone. New industries such as technology and renewable energy have massive employment potential. The unemployment rate is very low. Finally, although wage growth has been anemic, it has actually shown some growth potential recently, as median incomes have increased 5% in the past year.
In any case, the American dream is certainly looked upon as a distant memory by no small number of Americans. The status of the American worker is far more complicated than our current presidential candidates make it out to be, and it will take a lot of work across party lines — something Congress is seemingly incapable of — for the American worker to make a significant stride in the right direction.
