US Midterms: Inequality grows amid stagnant wages

As the 2018 midterm elections approach, the U.S. economy remains
strong and unemployment is near historic lows.

But the rosy picture belies an expanding gap between the rich and
poor, a result of stagnant wages and income inequality.

Our correspondent Nick Harper is in New York, where that disparity is
particularly acute.


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TAKE VO
Geographically, Sunset Park is just a few miles from Manhattan. But
economically, there's a very clear divide between here and the towers
of Wall Street.

TAKE VO
Sylvia Morse helps many of the neighborhood's hourly workers - members
of the largely immigrant community who get by from various low income
jobs.

SOT-Sylvia Morse, Project Management, Center for Family Life: "How to
start a business, how to get better work, how the economy really works
- that information is often withheld from low wage workers and
immigrant workers and women. And so we're really helping people build
the knowledge and skills to be able to increase their earnings."

TAKE VO
The center encourages workers to form cooperatives to provide them
safety in numbers, better pay and improve working conditions.
But research shows the gap between the haves and have-nots is getting wider.
TAKE VO
Two separate studies recently found New York has some of the worst
income inequality rates in America. The city ranks second in the
nation, while the state tops the list with the greatest divide - New
York's one percent earning 44 times more than the state's other 99
percent.
TAKE VO
A UN report found 40 million Americans - more than 12% of the
population - live in poverty. While in New York City as many as one
in seven struggle with hunger, many of them relying on food pantries.
TAKE VO
Economists say the city's high cost of living and limited wage growth
means people here aren't seeing the benefits of a stronger economy.

SOT- Jonathan Morduch, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, New
York University: "We ought to see wages rising as unemployment goes
down. There should be pressure in the labor market which starts
pushing wages up. But they aren't rising in the ways that we expect.
And on the low end that means after inflation wages basically haven't
moved in decades now."

TAKE VO
While the economy remains strong, the lingering issues of wages and
income inequality could push more people here to the polls.

SOC