Widening Wage Gap in Manhattan Spotlights Struggles of Low-Income Workers
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Manhattan now has the biggest income gap of any large county in the country, with the top 20% earning 53 times more than the bottom 20%.
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Wage growth has mostly benefited the already affluent, with highly paid earners getting pay bumps 27 times larger than low-wage earners.
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The minimum wage has stayed flat at $15/hr since 2019 while the cost of living has risen, hurting lower-income New Yorkers.
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Taking time for job training is costly for low- and middle-income workers struggling to get by on stagnant wages.
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Jobs are returning but many are low-paying positions, so unemployment remains much higher for Black and Hispanic New Yorkers.