What can we learn from observing changes in average and median wages?
When the average wage (per employee) grows faster than the median wage, wage inequalities increase, with high wages growing faster than low wages. Conversely, when the median wage grows faster than the average wage, wage inequalities fall, with low wages growing faster than high wages. We examine the relative growth of average and median wages in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Japan. There is a big difference between : The United States (where wage inequality has been falling since 2017) or Japan (where it has been falling since 2003); And euro-zone countries (where wage inequality is rising on average).