(Photo Courtesy of <a href=http://www.flickr.com/photos/timpatterson/476098132/>Tim Patterson via Flickr</a>.)

If you’re like most of us, you haven’t seen your pay increase very much since the economic downturn began in 2007. You might actually be getting paid more, however.

A USA Today analysis found our benefits have grown faster than our pay in recent years and accounted for nearly 20 percent of total compensation last year.

In other words, the company is paying more for your health insurance and retirement so you don’t have to (which would reduce your take-home pay).

On this week’s Working on GPB Radio, our work guru Brandon Smith talks about why companies aren’t doing this out of sheer generosity and what will finally prompt wages to increase too.