Real wages are rising (long-term) for all but those who do not have a high-school diploma, and they can be helped more effectively/efficiently in a fashion other than being bought-off. As for your 80% figure, color me a sceptic.
Its true. In the USA working population, about 20% are degreed. Most of the rest have high school diplomas, and a very, very small percentage are high school dropouts.
In the work place, about 20% of the working population is supervisory. (See a correlation here?). These people have done quite well in the last ten years.
The problem is with the 80% who are not supervisory. Their wages acutally went down by about 4% in real terms from 1999-2003, (thanks Bill Clinton). While real wages for non-supervisory personnel rose in 2004 and 2005, they did not keep pace with inflation.
20% of the population is doing great,(me included) However, things essentially s*ck for 80% of the population. Do you see a problem with this? This is the type of thing that, unresolved, brings down governments and societies.