Yes, the increases in the cost of living has outpaced wage growth for quite some time now. I often wonder what the breaking point will be when such a disparity will result in the Middle class completely disappearing.
Not really, as even in the US,, where it was collectively chosen not to use minimum wages as a redistributive measure, the situation is still better than 70 years ago (but not than 50 years ago, as it peaked in 1968 and decreased since, for minimum earners).
The situation is still acceptable for many since the average wage has kept up (the winner being the high-earners of course) :
In a full post-job scenario, the winners would be a very small minority, making political institution of redistributive measures more acceptable (the breaking point you're speaking of, which can't really happen as long as a majority is better off in the current system).
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