US economy outpaces UK while critics cite child poverty figures

A recent Financial Times analysis compares earnings of low-literacy workers in the United States and Great Britain, finding Americans make almost $30 per hour and enjoy a two-thirds employment rate, versus roughly $20 and under-half employment in the UK. Adjusted for living costs, US factory workers earn 60 percent more, plumbers and electricians 90 percent more, and retail staff double what their British counterparts receive.

The piece acknowledges genuine concerns about housing, education and health costs but argues the US economy delivers strong overall performance. Senator Bernie Sanders shared an OECD statistic showing a 21.1 percent child-poverty rate in the United States, which the column critiques as a measure of relative income distribution rather than material need, citing the Census Bureau’s 14.3 percent figure. It concludes that while inequality is a focus for some critics, the broader economic gains across income groups set the US apart from peer nations.