While total pay is up, people are working more Though household income has risen and women's wages have grown significantly, the hours worked have risen as well.

And household income grew only a third as fast as productivity between 1973 and 2004, the Economic Policy Institute found. And it hasn't kept pace with the rising costs of healthcare, education and housing.

At the same time the average hourly wage in the private sector fell 3.65 percent between 1975 and 2005, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Men have taken the biggest hit in terms of wage stagnation. Between 1979 and 2004, the median weekly earnings for men over 25 rose only 0.6 percent because male workers with anything less than a college degree saw a decline in real earnings during that period.

Workers are less secure According to research by political scientist Jacob Hacker of Yale, between 1974 and 2002, volatility in family income more than doubled. That is, there is a greater chance today for a family's income to rise or drop dramatically in a given year, which can make it much harder to establish a firm financial footing.

Hacker also has noted that while there is an earnings premium for the best-educated workers, they were also the ones hardest hit with job loss during the latest economic downturn.

What's more, with the move away from traditional defined-benefit pensions in the workplace, the need to use more of one's income to save for retirement has increased, leaving less left over for near-term expenses.