The unemployed here are not better off.
In addition, a Walmart cashier, Starbucks barista or Uber driver does not have the same standard of living that a UAW member once did.
People are, on average, worse off than the preceding generations, all in the name of higher profit margins for the few.
>Across Western Europe and North America, the middle class is shrinking, according to a new report by the OECD. With each new generation, a smaller share of the population find themselves earning middle incomes.
When the Baby Boomers, who were born between 1943 and 1964, were in their twenties, some 68% were in middle-income households. Only 60% of Millennials, who were born between 1983 and 2002, could say the same at a similar time in their lives.
https://qz.com/1592826/the-middle-class-is-shrinking-generat...
Of course it does. They do have that extra trillion people to bring the average down.
However, moving the manufacturing jobs from here to there has certainly raised their average standard of living while reducing our own.