Public Employees Enjoy 12% Higher Pay Than Private

Private sector workers would need to put in an extra month and a half of work time in order to receive the same annual compensation as their counterparts on the federal payroll, according to data from a Bureau of Labor Statistics study. Accounting for educational level, experience. race, gender, and other variables, federal employees enjoy a wage premium of 12% over the private sector.

The public-private gap translates to 13 1/2 months of work for those in the private sector to earn what comparable federal workers make in 12. An added, non-monetary advantage of working for the federal government is the relative rarity of layoffs or firings. "A federal pay premium is unfair both to private workers, who receive less than their government peers, and to taxpayers who must cover the difference," opine Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine in the Wall Street Journal. Read the full article.
(More federal employees stories.)