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A much better or worse metric, depending on how you look at it, for comparison is housing vs. wages. My grandparents (a secretary and plywood mill worker) had their first home built for 1,666 hours of their combined pay(gross).
The same home at todays "values" would take 15,384 hours of the average family income for the area!
Not sure when or where your grandparents bought, how their income ranked vs. median income etc. but the national average house cost 4.32 times median income in 1953 and a shade over 4 times median income now.
Not sure when or where your grandparents bought, how their income ranked vs. median income etc. but the national average house cost 4.32 times median income in 1953 and a shade over 4 times median income now.
Though it should be noted that the size and amenity package of the average home today is bigger/better than the typical home in 1953.
Not sure a big mac is the right metric to measure the min. wage but it does have the advantage of staying more or less the same over the decades.
Considering constant dollars, accounting for inflation, the minimum wage had the most purchasing power in 1968. In 2019, the real value of the federal minimum wage had dropped 17% since 2009 and 31% since 1968.
Another interesting factoid - labor productivity has essentially doubled over the last 50 years. The amount of goods that can be produced or services provided in an hour of work has grown to twice what it was but workers’ real pay has decreased by ~1/3.
So if you have the impression that you are not as well off as you used to be, you are right. Forgetting about the fact that real wages have essentially declined, corporate profits have skyrocketed due the improvement in productivity. In other words, the labor cost/dollar of profit has decreased substantially - primarily due to automation.
The end result of all of this is obvious - a good chunk of the American middle class is becoming an underclass, and the divide between the very wealthy and that underclass is getting bigger every day.
Don't have any easy solutions, but this is the reality.
Last edited by GearHeadDave; 01-26-2021 at 08:05 AM..
there are only 500,000 people making the federal minimum wage out of 168 million in the US workforce. Hardly a big concern for the country. Double up on jobs if it's a problem.
Considering constant dollars, accounting for inflation, the minimum wage had the most purchasing power in 1968. In 2019, the real value of the federal minimum wage had dropped 17% since 2009 and 31% since 1968.
Another interesting factoid - labor productivity has essentially doubled over the last 50 years. The amount of goods that can be produced or services provided in an hour of work has grown to twice what it was but workers’ real pay has decreased by ~1/3.
So if you have the impression that you are not as well off as you used to be, you are right. Forgetting about the fact that real wages have essentially declined, corporate profits have skyrocketed due the improvement in productivity. In other words, the labor cost/dollar of profit has decreased substantially - primarily due to automation.
The end result of all of this is obvious - a good chunk of the American middle class is becoming an underclass, and the divide between the very wealthy and that underclass is getting bigger every day.
Don't have any easy solutions, but this is the reality.
I can't get that link to open but it's EPI you are going to get nothing but hardcore leftwing spin from those jokers.
I'm not sure the point EPI is trying to make or how they are data twisting but real wage records have been set several times over the last year and half, eclipsing the previous 1973 high.
A direct link between productivity increases and wage increases would yield fantastic general price inflation and people at EPI know as much.
Though it should be noted that the size and amenity package of the average home today is bigger/better than the typical home in 1953.
Not sure a big mac is the right metric to measure the min. wage but it does have the advantage of staying more or less the same over the decades.
I was just pointing out the fallacy embedded into the implied claim that housing values were always, "better" in the past vs. incomes relative to today.
That's right the Big Mac index is fun to talk about but it's a near-worthless proxy for general price inflation.
I worked for 9 months at McDonald's in 1972. I hired in at $1.60 an hour, and was actually a worker when the Big Mac was released! It was .55 cents. The ads on TV were that you could get "change back from your dollar." A Big Mac, small fries and small Coke was .99 cents.
Considering constant dollars, accounting for inflation, the minimum wage had the most purchasing power in 1968. In 2019, the real value of the federal minimum wage had dropped 17% since 2009 and 31% since 1968.
Another interesting factoid - labor productivity has essentially doubled over the last 50 years. The amount of goods that can be produced or services provided in an hour of work has grown to twice what it was but workers’ real pay has decreased by ~1/3.
So if you have the impression that you are not as well off as you used to be, you are right. Forgetting about the fact that real wages have essentially declined, corporate profits have skyrocketed due the improvement in productivity. In other words, the labor cost/dollar of profit has decreased substantially - primarily due to automation.
The end result of all of this is obvious - a good chunk of the American middle class is becoming an underclass, and the divide between the very wealthy and that underclass is getting bigger every day.
Don't have any easy solutions, but this is the reality.
I don't have that impression at all. My parents, and all my siblings would agree that we are all MUCH better off than we used to be.
Considering constant dollars, accounting for inflation, the minimum wage had the most purchasing power in 1968. In 2019, the real value of the federal minimum wage had dropped 17% since 2009 and 31% since 1968.
Another interesting factoid - labor productivity has essentially doubled over the last 50 years. The amount of goods that can be produced or services provided in an hour of work has grown to twice what it was but workers’ real pay has decreased by ~1/3.
So if you have the impression that you are not as well off as you used to be, you are right. Forgetting about the fact that real wages have essentially declined, corporate profits have skyrocketed due the improvement in productivity. In other words, the labor cost/dollar of profit has decreased substantially - primarily due to automation.
The end result of all of this is obvious - a good chunk of the American middle class is becoming an underclass, and the divide between the very wealthy and that underclass is getting bigger every day.
Don't have any easy solutions, but this is the reality.
No where close - quit listening to those selling a false story of how bad it is now. You are also cherry picking dates when min wages were higher. There are dates where value of the wages were either side of current min wages.
There are periods where min wages were worth less than today and many more were working for minimum wages than currently do. Minimum wages when first set in 1939 was $0.25, worth about $4.25 today. The 1990 min wage was $3.35/hr worth about $6.33/hr today and many more were working at min wage then. Very few are getting min wages vs what used to happen - only 1.9% of workers are working minimum wage in 2019 vs 15.1% in 1980 according to BLS data.
Overall, most are better off today than the past. Median wages in 1980 were $12,513 which is worth $40,987 in 2019 - median wages are $54,100 in 2019 - that is 32% better now. Average and median wages today are about the same or higher than the past.
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