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Reason #5: Fewer good choices for jobs. U.S. trade and economic policies are creating more low-wage and high-wage jobs, while hollowing out the job market for middle-class jobs. (Washington Post)

Reason #4: You are a woman working in Seattle. Overall, women are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly wage gap of $11,084 between full-time working men and women. Seattle has the largest wage gap among the 50 most populous metro areas in the U.S. – 73 cents for every dollar paid to men. (National Partnership for Women and Families)

Reason #3: Your state’s elected leaders haven’t been investing enough on public education. Higher-wage states have one thing in common: They have a well-educated work force. (Washington Post)

Reason #2: Even though you’re more productive, you aren’t being rewarded for it. (Washington Post) If your pay had increased along with productivity, here’s how much more you’d be making right now. (Economic Policy Institute)

Reason #1: You aren’t in the top 1%. 95% of the post-recession economic gains have gone to the very tip-top of the income ladder (Slate) which is why thirty-five states still have fewer jobs than they did pre-recession. (Center for Economic and Policy Research)