During the mass high-school education movement (1910–1940), the growing supply of newly skilled workers drove down the wages of skilled labor. That decline compressed the pay gap between skilled and unskilled workers. Because the compression came from falling skilled wages rather than rising unskilled wages, the wages of unskilled workers themselves changed very little.

The High School Education Movement Had Little Effect on Unskilled Workers' Wages

During the mass high-school education movement of 1910–1940, the supply of skilled workers increased and skilled wages fell. What happened to unskilled workers' wages, and how did this affect wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers?

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Examples of reading comprehension questions derived from the Wikipedia article on economic inequality include:

- What impact does higher worker productivity and leveled pay have on lower earners?
- What happens when business overpays their workers?
- How do competing businesses repel workers?
- What impact did the high school education movement have on the wages of unskilled workers?
- What do strong labor movement correlate with?

Example Reading Comprehension Questions on Economic Inequality

“In Marxian analysis, capitalist firms increasingly substitute capital equipment for labor inputs (workers) under competitive pressure to reduce costs and maximize profits. Over the long-term, this trend increases the organic composition of capital, meaning that less workers are required in proportion to capital inputs, increasing unemployment (the "reserve army of labour"). This process exerts a downward pressure on wages. The substitution of capital equipment for labor (mechanization and automation) raises the productivity of each worker, resulting in a situation of relatively stagnant wages for the working class amidst rising levels of property income for the capitalist class.”

What impact does higher worker productivity and leveled pay have on lower earners?

“In a purely capitalist mode of production (i.e. where professional and labor organizations cannot limit the number of workers) the workers wages will not be controlled by these organizations, or by the employer, but rather by the market. Wages work in the same way as prices for any other good. Thus, wages can be considered as a function of market price of skill. And therefore, inequality is driven by this price. Under the law of supply and demand, the price of skill is determined by a race between the demand for the skilled worker and the supply of the skilled worker. "On the other hand, markets can also concentrate wealth, pass environmental costs on to society, and abuse workers and consumers." "Markets, by themselves, even when they are stable, often lead to high levels of inequality, outcomes that are widely viewed as unfair." Employers who offer a below market wage will find that their business is chronically understaffed. Their competitors will take advantage of the situation by offering a higher wage the best of their labor. For a businessman who has the profit motive as the prime interest, it is a losing proposition to offer below or above market wages to workers.”

What happens when business overpays their workers? & How do competing businesses repel workers?

“Sociologist Jake Rosenfield of the University of Washington asserts that the decline of organized labor in the United States has played a more significant role in expanding the income gap than technological changes and globalization, which were also experienced by other industrialized nations that didn't experience steep surges in inequality. He points out that nations with high rates of unionization, particularly in Scandinavia, have very low levels of inequality, and concludes "the historical pattern is clear; the cross-national pattern is clear: high inequality goes hand-in-hand with weak labor movements and vice-versa."

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