The Public vs. Private Pay Disparity

Last night the Institute's John O'Hara was on Beyond the Beltway where he discussed the disparity between pay for public and private workers.

by Mark Cavers

Last night, John O’Hara was featured on Beyond the Beltway for a discussion on the national budget debate, and the efforts of Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana’s governors to bring state employees’ benefits in line with those in the private sector.

At one point in the discussion, John argued that federal employees need to be part of the solution to our budget crisis. He pointed out that the average federal employee makes $123,000 in total compensation, compared to $61,000 for private sector employees. This immediately drew disbelieve from the other guests, including Don Turner, the former head of the AFL-CIO in Illinois, because the facts contradict the picture big government enthusiasts have so neatly created. Rather than barely getting by, public employees often enjoy lavish compensation packages, all paid from the wallets of hardworking taxpayers.

Even more concerning than the huge pay disparity is its explosive growth over the past ten years. In 2000, federal employees enjoyed a $30,000 pay advantage over
private sector employees. In 2010, that advantage had grown to almost
$62,000, a 100% increase in pay advantage over 10 years.

We can no longer afford to have two classes of citizens, one that gets outrageous pay and benefits, and the taxpayers who must cut from their own budgets to pay for them.  It is time to rightsize public employee pay and benefits.