5 ms·

When I started washing dishes, minimum wage was $1.50. Hard to get used to inflation of 1000%.

by voyager2 7y ago

ainiriand 7y ago
Oh my god! How long was that? I was working in a restaurant long ago in Spain but I made like 5 euro per hour.
- voyager2 7y ago
  As I look at http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/federal-minimum-wage-history/ http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/federal-minimum-wage-his... I see the minimum wage was actually $1.60 at the time, but I was paid $1.50. Might have had to do with the fact that I was 15.
  - runako 7y ago
    Fun comparisons around a $1.60 minimum wage in 1968: - An hour of labor would buy ~4.7 gallons of gasoline. If minimum wage had kept pace, it would be $12.32. - Average home could be bought with ~15k hours of minimum-wage labor (around 8 years). Had minimum wage kept pace, it would be $14.96. - Average car price was $2,822. Using this as the sole deflator would put an equivalent minimum wage at $20.89 today. - The average public university tuition + room & board cost $1,143, which could be earned in 714 hours at minimum wage (this could be physically accomplished in a summer of hard work). If minimum wage had kept pace with these fees, it would be $27.28 per hour. (There are not enough clock hours in a summer break, assuming no sleep, to earn enough at minimum wage to pay for a year of the average public university.)
maaaats 7y ago
> Hard to get used to inflation of 1000%. I think that's a common problem when discussing things with one's parents. "You make twice the amount I did at that age!", "Yes, but tuition is twenty times as high!".
ilikehurdles 7y ago
The average cost of tuition at public universities in 1970 was $470. In 2017, it was $9,970. Health spending was $355 per person in 1970 ($1,797 if you adjust to 2017 dollars). In 2017 it was $10,735. The median price of a home in 1970 was $23,600, and last april it was $339,000. We have less than half the number of pensions in the US than we did then. Contributions to retirement plans have grown by more than 10x and we have a lot less financial security now despite this. 1,000% is a fantasy. We're well above that on many aspects.

When I started washing dishes, minimum wage was $1.50. Hard to get used to inflation of 1000%.

ainiriand 7y ago

Oh my god! How long was that? I was working in a restaurant long ago in Spain but I made like 5 euro per hour.

voyager2 7y ago
As I look at http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/federal-minimum-wage-history/ http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/federal-minimum-wage-his... I see the minimum wage was actually $1.60 at the time, but I was paid $1.50. Might have had to do with the fact that I was 15.
- runako 7y ago
  Fun comparisons around a $1.60 minimum wage in 1968: - An hour of labor would buy ~4.7 gallons of gasoline. If minimum wage had kept pace, it would be $12.32. - Average home could be bought with ~15k hours of minimum-wage labor (around 8 years). Had minimum wage kept pace, it would be $14.96. - Average car price was $2,822. Using this as the sole deflator would put an equivalent minimum wage at $20.89 today. - The average public university tuition + room & board cost $1,143, which could be earned in 714 hours at minimum wage (this could be physically accomplished in a summer of hard work). If minimum wage had kept pace with these fees, it would be $27.28 per hour. (There are not enough clock hours in a summer break, assuming no sleep, to earn enough at minimum wage to pay for a year of the average public university.)

maaaats 7y ago

> Hard to get used to inflation of 1000%. I think that's a common problem when discussing things with one's parents. "You make twice the amount I did at that age!", "Yes, but tuition is twenty times as high!".

ilikehurdles 7y ago

The average cost of tuition at public universities in 1970 was $470. In 2017, it was $9,970. Health spending was $355 per person in 1970 ($1,797 if you adjust to 2017 dollars). In 2017 it was $10,735. The median price of a home in 1970 was $23,600, and last april it was $339,000. We have less than half the number of pensions in the US than we did then. Contributions to retirement plans have grown by more than 10x and we have a lot less financial security now despite this. 1,000% is a fantasy. We're well above that on many aspects.