Over the last several decades, there have been significant economic changes in the United States – many for the better. Our nation is more prosperous overall, more diverse and more productive than ever before. The U.S. economy remains the world’s largest and among the most innovative. For many Americans, economic growth has led to increased opportunity and prosperity.

But not everyone has shared in the gains of our growing economy. For workers whose education ended with high school, it is harder to achieve the success of their parents. These dozen charts highlight some of the ways that life has become more difficult for many Americans. Average hourly earnings are no higher than they were forty years ago. A typical worker’s wages, which once moved higher with productivity gains, now lag significantly behind overall productivity increases. A full-time worker earning the minimum wage took home over $7,000 more in 1968 than today, after adjusting for inflation. Fewer now have defined-benefit pensions while many people have no retirement plan at all.