requires a little bit of a recalibration and perhaps a bigger imagination, given the fact that we are in a pandemic and we are trying to figure out how to make sure that workers are paid living wages and are protected as they go out and do their essential jobs? yes, zerlina. we need high wages for the working in middle class. let me give you one statistic that basically affirms what you are saying. since 1980, the working class and middle class in america have lost 25% of wealth. they are being underpaid for the work they are doing. this is true about starbucks workers in our state, this is true about fast food workers. this is true about many service workers. and if they are finally getting a little bit of a raise, that is good news. they are finally earning the wage they should for the jobs they are doing. one of the reasons we have a great resignation is because people weren t getting paid what they should. they want to be treated with dignity that they should be treated with.
softening, the quit rate remains at a 20 year high. you, know we were talking in the earlier segment with experts on the economy, and there are a lot of harvard economists that are like, we wages are too high, and we have to increase the unemployment rate. and i m, like i don t, know if you re economic system requires those two things, maybe there is a flaw. there s a hitch in the giddyup, as my dad would say. do you think that our system requires a little bit of a recalibration and perhaps a bigger imagination, given the fact that we are in a pandemic and we are trying to figure out how to make sure that workers are paid living wages and are protected as they go out and do their essential jobs? yes, zerlina. we need high wages for the working in middle class. let me give you one statistic that basically affirms what you are saying. since 1980, the working class and middle class in america have lost 25% of wealth. they are being underpaid for the work they are doing.
complicated, and health experts say, not purely medical. we want to get people back to the jobs, particularly those with essential jobs, to keep our society running smoothly. if you are an hourly wage worker and you feel reasonably fine, maybe you have mild symptoms, you re much less likely to get tested if you know that a positive result will mean ten days of not being able to work, of being isolated. reporter: one sector already struggling, vaccinated healthcare workers suffering breakthrough infections of the highly transmissible omicron variant. and being sent home. that s still an impossible strain on an already strained healthcare system. so, i understand the pressure to get workers back earlier. reporter: omicron is spreading so fast, the impact is now going far beyond the widely reported holiday travel problems. in new york city, apple has closed all its stores to browsing shoppers. in maryland, courts are cutting back their winter schedules. all over college and prof