The article analyzes how men's lifetime earnings changed in the 1980s based on their jobs and social status. They looked at earnings over a long period and considered how unemployment affected income. On average, lifetime earnings increased by 2.6%, but the gap between high and low earners widened. Managers, professionals, and intermediate non-manual workers benefited the most. When factoring in unemployment, all groups except foremen and supervisors improved their earnings compared to unskilled workers, with higher earners seeing the most significant gains.