Income and Wages

Men Working Longer, Getting Less

Men and women alike are working longer hours compared to the end of the Reagan years to insure themselves against a decline in pay. Men, in particular, have been hit hard in the pocketbook in recent years.

  • Men working in full-time jobs suffered a 0.9 percent decline in income last year, and currently earn about 10 percent less in real terms than they did at the end of the Reagan presidency.

  • The average employed male worked 84 hours more in 1996 than in 1992.

  • While American males worked an average of 1,816 hours annually in 1980, that figure has risen to an estimated 1,960 hours as of 1996 in constant 1996 dollars.
  • Similarly, full-time male workers registered a median income of $35,483 in 1980 versus $32,144 in 1996.

The average hourly wage in the private sector, in constant 1996 dollars, fell from $12.63 in 1980 to $12.06 in 1996.

Source: Ed Rubenstein, "Right Data," National Review, November 10, 1997

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