Reading the above, created in 2009, it is interesting to see their comparisons of salaries. This was as the world was trying to recover from the sub prime mortgage risk lending catastrophe which resulted in a global financial crisis.
The term ‘Blue collar’ is derived from the days when manual workers dressed in blue denim uniforms. An advert for blue collar workers first appeared in a 1924 newspaper in Iowa.
Office workers and administrators tended to wear white shirts and suits. During the 19th and 20th centuries, white collar workers believed themselves to be superior to blue.
White collar became the middle class, a buffer to the upper class, whilst blue collar were the least well paid.
Over recent decades the salaries of many blue collar workers overtook office staff. These were the lucrative jobs such as in welding, plumbing, infrastructure work. As trades emerged through training to become a highly skilled blue collar worker, salaries reflected the particular skill.
The middle class were then growing where education and training lifted people into roles where many more people could attain skills to match demands in diverse occupations.
In 2009, the above payscale site has salaries for occupations and the first example I reproduce here is College Professor and a Prison Guard:
Do white collar jobs bring home more bacon than blue collar jobs? It’s common to assume so. But according to a recent PayScale survey of job duties, salaries and career paths, white collar jobs don’t always beat their blue collar counterparts. Let’s take a look and compare the average job salaries from a list of white collar jobs and a list of blue collar jobs. (Note: for up-to-date salary information, click on each job title.)
College Professor or Prison Guard The average job salaries for mid-career prison guards range around $60,880, 3 percent higher than the typical salary of $58,876 for a mid-career college professor. Prison guards in California enjoy an annual salary of $73,428 with only a high school education, and with overtime they can surpass the income of California judges, police and even the state attorney.
Then you can click the link and find out what each can earn today. They provide many examples of occupations and can locate salaries for these careers around the world. A useful website, I believe.
But according to Pew Research, the size of the middle class in America has shrunk. Incomes for the rich has increased whilst the lowest is even lower. Since 1970 incomes are higher by 2022, but distribution is skewed to benefit those in the higher wealth band. The country is wealthier overall.
For instance, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Black and Hispanic Americans, and people who are not married are more likely than average to be in the lower-income tier.
The share of Americans who are in the middle class is smaller than it used to be. In 1971, 61% of Americans lived in middle-class households. By 2023, the share had fallen to 51%, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.
As a result, Americans are more apart than before financially. From 1971 to 2023, the share of Americans who live in lower-income households increased from 27% to 30%, and the share in upper-income households increased from 11% to 19%.
Notably, the increase in the share who are upper income was greater than the increase in the share who are lower income. In that sense, these changes are also a sign of economic progress overall.
I am sure it isn’t easy to gather the kind of fair minded and cooperative people together to form a strong and successful employee owned business but it seems there are a number of them proving their worth.
And then there is a question of tax, which you can always investigate and wonder why certain politicians succeed to be leaders of their countries.
My mantra is ‘no-one can be in charge of the country whilst corporates are in charge of the world!’
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
borderslynn 
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