Minimum wage in 1968 was $1.60, with today's purchase power of $10.03

[Curmudgeoness]

I had just wondered how minimum wage had faired over my work life. In 1968, minimum wage was $1.60, which had the same purchase power as $10.03 today. This is based on the statistics on Consumer Price Index from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. My wage today compared to 1980 is over $20,000 less in purchase power because of lack of raises, having to start new jobs due to companies closing, layoffs, etc.

See if you are in better or worse shape with this simple calculator and let me know what you think of the state of the economy for the "small people".

http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

[SunnySong]

1. I am making less IN REAL DOLLARS than I was in 1998 I don't need a

fucking inflation calculator to tell me this economy sucks...



Upon reflection I made less than 1989 -1996 God that is depressing..

[GlennWRECK]

2. $10.03 vs $7.25... bullshit

Raise it to $10 in 2011 and most will be happy, conservatives and democrats alike.

[librechik]

3. rent and food costs much lower then--I was able to support myself as a single quite nicely

on my $1.65 salary at the hospital. One bedroom apartment (garden level) $65/month.

A couple of years ago I read a news article which said that not a single county in the US had rent low enough for someone on minimum wage to afford to live there working one job. I weep for my kids and grandkids who are advancing into a cruel and illogical world.

[inna]

4. Average wage declined over the last 30 years:

· Average hourly wage in 1972, adjusted for inflation: $20.06.
· In 2008: $18.52.



http://extremeinequality.org/?page_id=8

[Curmudgeoness]

5. Where can I find that "average" wage in 2010? With a college degree

I am still not able to find that hourly rate. This sucks. Thanks for the info.

[bobbolink]

11. That's a great resource... thanks for posting it!

[Statistical]

14. Great resource. Could be its own OP. Worst part is that productivity increased massively.

Wages tracked productivity up until about 1980 and then it totally decoupled. Wages (inflation adjusted) remained flat while productivity nearly tripled.

[ieoeja]

21. That de-coupling would probably be de-unionization.

If you wanted people to do more work in the same amount of time, you had to pay more or expect a strike or slowdown. Today, you just order the workers to work harder.

And the vast majority of Americans believe that is how it should be.

[Statistical]

23. Still looking for the longer term chart but here is one for 1995 to present.

Notice productivity kept growing even after Bush got elected but wages hit a wall again.

Generally speaking if wages had kept up with productivity just in the last 8 years ALONE wages should be roughly 17% higher across the board.

Imagine if tomorrow everyone in America got back the 17% that was stolen from them. Imagine all that extra spending, all that extra demand for products and services.

The idea that the US doesn't make anything is a false meme. GDP, productivity, and industrial output has grown ever single decade since 1800s. However starting around 1980 the % of the increase that went to wage earners fell off a cliff.

America as a WHOLE kept getting richer and richer however the % of people sharing in that growth shrunk more and more. thus the gains went to smaller and smaller pool at the top.

On edit: found the larger term chart.


Wages & productivity both roughly doubled between 1947 and 1980. From 1980 productivity again almost doubled but wages are essentially flat. If you above imagined what our economy would look like with 17% more wages imagine what it would look like with 70% higher wages today. :(

[Bigmack]

6. "Are you better off today...

"Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Ronald Fucking Reagan in the campaign debate with Carter.

Are we better off today than when that fucking vegetable took office?

Every graph I see says this country started down the porcelain after that dolt took office.

If you know of anything that's better.... please post it here. I need some encouragement about the future.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. You are correct, the slide started with Reagan, continued with Daddy Bush

and has never gotten better. But what this also tells me is that it will not destroy the economy and put companies out of business if we increase the minimum wage. They were doing fine in 1968, and although it fell (by 1978, equivalent wage would be $8.87), it did not crater until Reagan. Sorry to depress you further. I will try to find a rainbow for us.

[HughBeaumont]

18. Ayyyyyup.

Proof is in the pudding! Our wages have the buying power of a dogshit pile.

[spinbaby]

8. Our adjusted wage is higher now than in 1980

Probably because we have two people working now instead of one:-(

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Good and bad news, I suppose. At least you are better off now.

I am distressed at how many people are not, even with both now working.

[HughBeaumont]

19. And working longer hours than your 1980s counterparts, I might add.

[bobbolink]

9. Excellent! Thank you!

This would make a very good PowerPoint program to show to those not understanding the reality.

[bobbolink]

12. kick for a very worthy post

:kick:

[Statistical]

13. Minimum wages should be a) raised to $12.00 and b) permamently indexed to inflation.

Once a year if inflation would result in a change of > $0.25 then minimum wage goes up automatically.

Much like how income tax standard deductions, 401K limits, IRA limits, social security max wages, and other amount automatically index for inflation.

[bobbolink]

15. Like the COLA that has been taken away from SS for at least two years now?

:nuke:

With nary a whimper from "progressives".

[Statistical]

16. While it isn't a perfect system....

Had minimum wage been tied to COLA it wouldn't have increased the last two years but it would be >$10 right now due to all the annual increases in last 30+ years.

[bobbolink]

17. Thank you. Do you have a link for that current figure?

"While it isn't a perfect system."

I would like to remind you that for those of us who are suffering under this, it isn't about being "perfect'... it is about SURVIVAL.

I will also repeat that "progressives" have been silent on this. For which we can only conclude that we matter not one whit. You may remember that at election time.

[Statistical]

20. Sorry that should be $10 not $11 (typo) and an example of how indexed minimum wage would work.

The $10 comes from the OP. Inflation adjusted value of minimum wages.

Another way to look at it would be indexing to CPI instead of COLA (which is based on avg wages)
data ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt

Starting with a $1.60 wage in 1968 if indexed to CPI.

Year	Annual Change (%)	Cumulative Index Factor	Indexed Minimum Wage
1968	4.7			1.047			$1.68
1969	5.5			1.105			$1.77
1970	5.7			1.168			$1.87
1971	4.4			1.219			$1.95
1972	3.2			1.258			$2.01
1973	6.2			1.336			$2.14
1974	11.0			1.483			$2.37
1975	9.1			1.618			$2.59
1976	5.8			1.712			$2.74
1977	6.5			1.823			$2.92
1978	7.6			1.961			$3.14
1979	11.3			2.183			$3.49
1980	13.5			2.478			$3.96
1981	10.3			2.733			$4.37
1982	6.2			2.902			$4.64
1983	3.2			2.995			$4.79
1984	4.3			3.124			$5.00
1985	3.6			3.237			$5.18
1986	1.9			3.298			$5.28
1987	3.6			3.417			$5.47
1988	4.1			3.557			$5.69
1989	4.8			3.728			$5.96
1990	5.4			3.929			$6.29
1991	4.2			4.094			$6.55
1992	3.0			4.217			$6.75
1993	3.0			4.343			$6.95
1994	2.6			4.456			$7.13
1995	2.8			4.581			$7.33
1996	3.0			4.718			$7.55
1997	2.3			4.827			$7.72
1998	1.6			4.904			$7.85
1999	2.2			5.012			$8.02
2000	3.4			5.182			$8.29
2001	2.8			5.328			$8.52
2002	1.6			5.413			$8.66
2003	2.3			5.537			$8.86
2004	2.7			5.687			$9.10
2005	3.4			5.880			$9.41
2006	3.2			6.068			$9.71
2007	2.8			6.238			$9.98
2008	3.8			6.475			$10.36
2009*	0.0			6.475			$10.36
2010(P)	2.5			6.637			$10.62

Technically CPI decreased in 2009 but legislation could be written (similar to SS) than in decreasing CPI enviroment wages simply stay flat.

The year listed in year inflation (prices) changes so new minimum wage would take effect Jan 1 of next year. Thus minimum wage would increase to $8.29 in 2000. The 2010 figure would be projected. Inflation is looking to clock in around 2.5% for 2009 thus minimum wage would rise to $10.62 on Jan 1st 2011.

Now I would say boost minimum wage to $12.00 THEN index it to inflation the example was just retroactive to show how an index would work.

[ieoeja]

22. COLA is negative for the past two years.

Are you complaining that they did not apply a negative COLA to social security thus lowering the payments?

[bobbolink]

24. You haven't noticed prices rising?

[Statistical]

25. Compared to the peak in 2008 no prices are still lower.

Prices are rising but they haven't risen PAST the previous peak. Since SS doesn't lower checks when prices fall it won't also rise until prices exceed their previous peak.

[bobbolink]

26. ALL prices are higher, and people are suffering. Not that I expect

"progressives" to give one good damn.

There are a very few who have been going to bat on this one for us, and Obama toyed with the idea of giving a $250 rebate to those on SS. But there weren't enough of you pushing for it to get it through.

Not that it matters to many of y0u.

I suppose the suffering is just one more big laugh.

[Statistical]

27. Prices aren't higher than the peak in 2008.

Some very obvious examples are energy costs.

Gasoline in peak of 2008 was >$4.00 a gallon. Today more like $2.60 national average. While that is more than $1.90 at the bottom of 2009 it hasn't exceeded the previous peak.



Same thing with heating oil and natural gas. Prices are up but nowhere near their highs.

[bobbolink]

28. Groceries are much higher, as are housing (rent, since I'm sure you will also argue with that) costs

Gas never *was* figured into the COLA, as you know.

And it is rapidly getting to that high level again.

Clearly, you aren't one who cares about the suffering, so there is no point of further arguing.

Just remember in November that this is the attitude that has alienated a lot of voters.

Bye now.

[Statistical]

34. Of course gasoline (and other energy costs) have ALWAYS been a factor for COLA.

COLA increases are based on changed in CPI.
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid09av.pdf

CPI fell from 2008 to 2009 thus there was no COLA increase.

While food did increase in price energy, transportation, and fuel fell substantially.
Heating costs fell 28%, motor fuel fell 27% and transportation cost fell 8%.

Prices have rose in 2010 but any 2010 will only be reflected in 2011 COLA increase.

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/colaseries.html

Year COLA
2000 3.5%
2001 2.6%
2002 1.4%
2003 2.1%
2004 2.7%
2005 4.1%
2006 3.3%
2007 2.3%
2008 5.8%
2009 0.0

2008 had the largest one year COLA increase in over 20 years due to skyrockets prices in 2007-2008.

[bobbolink]

37. Energy is NOT figured into the COLA. It is based on grocery prices.

Face it, you just don't want to admit that this administration is balancing the budget on those of us who are at the bottom of the ladder, and don't have protections.

Admit the bias.

[Statistical]

38. Wrong COLA is the change in CPI of the previous year. It has been that way since 1975.

I provided you the exact breakdown from BLS. It seems you are simply not interested in facts.

Given SS checks are used for a lot more than groceries (like buying gasoline, keeping iights on, paying cable bill, getting car repaired, picking up prescription, etc) it would be kinda silly to based largest retirement program in history of mankind solely on grocery prices.

The first COLA, for June 1975, was based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the second quarter of 1974 to the first quarter of 1975. The 1976-83 COLAs were based on increases in the CPI-W from the first quarter of the prior year to the corresponding quarter of the current year in which the COLA became effective. After 1983, COLAs have been based on increases in the CPI-W from the third quarter of the prior year to the corresponding quarter of the current year in which the COLA became effective.

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/colaseries.html

There is no conspiracy. Each year SS COLA increased is based on the change in CPI of the previous year. From 2007-2008 there was no CPI increase thus by regulation there was no COLA increase for 2009. However the largest COLA increase in last 20 years was in 2008 (5.8% increase).

[bobbolink]

39. "It seems you are simply not interested in facts." I am not interested in one more basher.

when you have to resort to personal attacks, you have lost.

Welcome to my ignore list. Bye.

[Statistical]

40. Personal attacks? Sad. Since when is accurate facts (back up with citations) a personal attack.

You live a made up world where you know the "truth" (COLA is based only on grocery prices) and anyone providing evidence of reality is a basher?

Why even participate in a forum then?

[hayu_lol]

30. Bought a new car in 1968...

Plymouth Fury 9 passenger station wagon, V8, loaded, maybe the best car I ever bought:

$3200 less trade in.

Today, that car would go for at least $40,000.

[Greyhound]

31. That's due to at least 8 successive administrations "adjusting" the calculations.

Each time, the calculations are adjusted to discount what real people need and heavily weigh inconsequentials like electronic toys.

Idiot Frat Boy removed the baseline entirely.

[bobbolink]

32. YESS!!! Finally, someone gets it!

BTW, I have been trying to put together some of the facts on this.... could you give me some links, please?

I would very much appreciate it!

Thanks! :yourock:

[Greyhound]

29. Perhaps more importantly, minimum wage was (at least when I was in my 20's) fairly rare.

Entry level fast food and positions like that were the only minimum wage jobs. Even working construction clean up paid $2 - $3 above minimum. Today, minimum wage is becoming The Wage.

[notadmblnd]

33. I don;t need a calculatort to figure that out

In the 90's I made over 100k. Now it's less that 24k.

[doc03]

35. I am retired now but I done fairly well wage wise

of course we were a union shop. Now jobs is a different story we had about 17,000 employees in 1970 now we have less that 2000.

[Cleita]

36. Back in 1958, when I was going to college, I had a

minimum wage job that paid $1.00 an hour back then. I was able to support myself on it partly by renting a one bedroom apartment with three roommates and partly because I got one free meal a day on the job. I also had medical benefits from the college and tuition was free back then in California. Still it was tough working full time and trying to find the time to study and do homework. I don't think I could do that on today's minimum wage though.