Income inequality has been growing in the US over the last three decades, largely because the labor market has increasingly demanded skills that the education system has been unable to supply. The everyday consequence for the middle class is a stagnant paycheck and growing employment insecurity, as the old economy of well-paying low-skilled jobs with good benefits withers away.
让我们从选民为何会如此两极分化开始。其中的决定性因素有二：收入和年龄。过去三十年来，美国的收入不平等情况一直在恶化，这大部分是因为教育体系越来越难以满足劳动力市场所要求的技能。这给中产阶级带来了怎样的后果呢？薪金增长停滞，失业风险增加，因为低技能要求的高薪高福利旧经济一去不复返了。