KDI 경제정보센터

Workers differ greatly in their lifetime earnings, which we define as the average real wage and salary income earned during their life between ages 25 and 55. For example, among male workers, those at the bottom of the lifetime earnings (LE) distribution earn about $15,000 per year over the life cycle, whereas this number increases to $50,000 for median workers and further increases rather steeply to nearly $400,000 for the top 2% of earners.