Kirpal Singh of Denver, right, waves a placard along with more than 100 other supporters of raising the minimum wage in Colorado during a rally on the steps of the state Capitol in Denver this past summer.
DAVID ZALUBOWSKI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The reason why you may feel like your check is getting smaller is because it is, according to an article by Time.
It says personal income fell 3.6 percent in January. If taxes and inflation are considered, disposable income was 4 percent lower. This is the biggest decrease in 20 years.
Not only is the economy recovering slowly, but the standard of living is falling for about half of Americans. This is in part due to the lack of productivity, according to the article.
Usually when a recession occurs, a company becomes more productive as it increases the capacity of a worker's load. This time, however, the growth has never been fast enough to keep up. This in turn made wages stand still, Time reported.
In addition to wages not improving, the payroll tax-cut expiration raised taxes by two percentage point for those who make up to $113,700 a year.
EMAIL: alovell@deseretnews.com
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biggest decrease in disposable income in 20 years?
Probably bush's fault. Or Mitt Romney's. If Mitt was poor I would be richer I know it. I have no logic for that assumption, but I know its Mitt's fault I'm not More..
wait - I thought this past election was all about 'fairness'? The jacked up taxes we ALL got hit with Jan 1 is all part of that fairness - an opportunity to participate in wealth redistribution. It should warm the heart to know that your More..
Obama is the worst President we have had maybe ever! The list of broken promises is never ending. Meanwhile our country gets weaker, less educated, and most of all more dependant on the government. He promised the debt would be cut in half. More..