ANN ARBOR—Without policies to assure adequate work and income among the less-skilled Americans, the inequality between low-wage and high-wage employees will continue to contribute to social and economic problems, a University of Michigan economist says.

Rebecca Blank, the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, will testify Friday (Feb. 16) about the economic opportunities available to the least-skilled workers during a hearing by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services. The hearing is entitled “The State of the Economy, the State of the Labor Market, and the Conduct of Monetary Policy.”

Blank cites several reasons why people should care about rising inequality. Lower income families feel economically deprived as they watch others move further ahead. Higher education tuition is increasing faster than inflation. In many areas of the country, housing prices have surged faster than overall prices. Health care is almost impossible to purchase on the open market, if not provided by one’s employer, she says.

“Lower-wage workers in today’s economy find it hard to achieve those things that are part of the American dream: own a house, have a job with pension and health benefits, or the opportunity to send their children to college,” she said.

Economic inequality is also linked with other types of social inequality. Health disparities between more- and less-educated workers have widened over the past few decades. Differences in educational achievement are widening between the best and worst students, she says.

“Economic mobility has always been an important promise in America,” Blank said, “but widening inequality makes it harder for the children growing up in today’s low-income families to dream about doing better.”

Additional information on BlankGerald R. Ford School of Public PolicyTo watch a live webcast of the hearing, 10 a.m. Feb. 16