Rich get richer, the poor get poorer

From TennViews:

Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Tennessee ranks fifth in the nation for having the greatest income difference between the richest and the poorest residents, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-partisan, nonprofit research organization.

[..]

Tennessee’s poorly skilled work force contributes greatly to the disparity here, said Dr. Matt Murray, professor of economics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. For decades, the state has relied on manufacturing, textile and apparel industries to provide many of its jobs, but they’ve been low-skill jobs that people can get without much education, he said.

The article notes that many of those jobs have moved out of the country, leaving low-paying jobs with stagnant wages.

According to the study, the top 20% of earners make more than seven times as much as the bottom 20% of earners nationwide. In Tennessee, the ratio is eight to one.

Nationwide, wages at the low end have decreased 2.5% while wages at the top end have increased by 9.1% since the late 1990s. In Tennessee, earnings for the bottom 20% have grown 6.5% in the last two decades, compared to 31.9% for the top 20%.

To mitigate the effects of economic forces outside the control of state policy, the study recommends raising and indexing the minimum wage, improving the unemployment insurance program, making state tax systems more progressive, and strengthening the social safety net.