Common stereotypes notwithstanding, public sector employees are not better paid than their private sector counterparts.
That’s the message in new research from the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute.
According to the think tank, workers in state and local government earn, on average, $6,061 per year less than similarly-situated employees in private industry.
That gap closes once you add in benefits, but even with perks, the public sector workers make $2,001 less per year, EPI says.
EPI’s study controlled for several factors such as level of education (the public sector as a whole is more highly educated) and number of hours worked (public sector workers tend to work fewer hours).
The study also omitted such jobs as firefighter and corrections officer, which don’t exist in the private sector.
During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page. It’s that easy.
