Do You Earn More Than Your Parents Did?

Here is yet another wrinkle in the eternal debate over who had it tougher, father or son (or, mother or daughter):

The chart above, adapted from a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, shows the difference in weekly pay between people with a given education level today and their counterparts from a generation ago.

As you can see, most men today earn less than equally educated men in 1979, with the exception of the most highly educated.  The opposite is true for women: Most women today earn more than their equally educated counterparts from 1979, with the exception of the least educated.

There are a few forces behind these trends. One is that generally speaking, it’s harder to make it in today’s job market than it was a few decades ago if you don’t have at least a high school degree, since the expectations for what educational credentials workers should possess have risen. This is in part because the economy is less dependent on lower-skilled, manual-labor-intensive industries like manufacturing, and more reliant on industries that require formally credentialed education and training, like health care. Thus, in general, the earnings potential for the most educated has risen, and that for the least educated has fallen.

Another consideration is that the gap between men’s and women’s pay has narrowed over the years. One effect of this is that women’s wages, at most levels of education, have grown.

Yet another wrinkle in the eternal debate over who had it tougher, father or son.

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Catherine Rampell is the economics editor at nytimes.com.

David Leonhardt writes the Economic Scene column, which appears in The Times on Wednesdays.

Sewell Chan writes about economic issues from Washington D.C.

Jack Ewing writes about European economics and business from Frankfurt.

Marc Lacey is The Times's bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Economists offer readers insights about the dismal science.

Economics doesn’t have to be complicated. It is the study of our lives "” our jobs, our homes, our families and the little decisions we face every day. Here at Economix, David Leonhardt, Catherine Rampell and other contributors will analyze the news and use economics as a framework for thinking about the world. We welcome feedback, at economix@nytimes.com.

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Apture allows readers to dig deeper into a subject without ever leaving the blog post. When you click on any link marked by the icons , , or , you will be able to view video, reference materials, images and other related media. Please e-mail your feedback and thoughts on this feature to apture@nyt.com.

An accounting of the government’s rescue package.

Three economists explain what worked and what didn't.

A map of unemployment rates across the United States, now through January.

Faces, numbers and stories from behind the downturn.

A series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible.

A series exploring the origins of the financial crisis, from Washington to Wall Street.

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