EPI's 'State of Working America' Compares U.S., Other World Economies

If economics were an Olympic event, Americans would get gold medals in productivity and per capita income. But the United States would be far from medal contention in other categories – poverty, inequality and work hours – according to the forthcoming 2008-09 "State of Working America," published by the Economic Policy Institute.

The book compares the U.S. economy with that of 19 other industrialized countries, including much of Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Chapters include family income, how unions affect wages and income disparity.

"U.S. per capita income, second only to Norway, comes from the collective hard work done by many hands – U.S. employment rates rank in the top half of its peer countries," the book states. "But increasingly that wealth comes from working longer hours. The average annual hours of work in the United States, at 1,804, are higher than in any of the other countries in this group."

And despite its wealth, the United States has the highest overall poverty and child poverty levels, EPI said. "Many peer countries have caught up with or surpassed U.S. productivity while achieving much lower levels of poverty, inequality, and unemployment," said Heidi Shierholz, author of a chapter EPI released this week.

An advance copy of the book will be available after Labor Day, with the final edition published in January. To learn more or place an order, go to www.epi.org.