As wages stagnate but living costs keep rising, the pressure on working
people grows more intense. The issue of living standards has become one of
the most urgent challenges for politicians in both Britain and America.

'The squeezed middle' brings together experts from both sides of the Atlantic
to ask what the UK can learn from the US. American workers have not
benefited from growth for an entire generation - the average American worker
earned no more in 2009 than in 1975. Now British workers are undergoing a
similar experience. No longer can they assume that when the economy grows
their wages will grow with it.

This collection brings together for the first time leading economic and
policy thinkers to analyse the impact of different policies on those on
low-to middle incomes and to explain what lessons the UK can learn from
America's 'lost generation'.

This timely book is essential reading for everyone concerned about the
living standards crisis, an issue which could decide elections as well as
shaping the future for millions of working families.