Why do so many big Corporations in the US pay so poorly?

Question

You can't even provide a living for yourself let alone a family.

Answer 1

Because of the fact that there aren't any unions.And they are just plain greedy.Rampant Capitalism

Answer 2

Recent data show a major shift in the balance between corporate income and labor compensation. As a share of the economy labor compensation has not been this low in almost 40 years (since 1966), and after-tax corporate profits are at the highest levels ever recorded by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Since it's peak in 2001, as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), labor compensation has decreased by about 4 percent (from 67 to 63 percent) and corporate profits have increased by about 4 percent (from 8 to 12 percent) — see chart below. After taxes, corporate profits reached 9.6 percent of GDP — the highest level recorded dating back to 1947.

Union Busting is a major reason.

We talk about freedom all the time in this country, and yet our workers are deprived the most basic freedom - the freedom to organize themselves."