7 ms·

> The middle class have financially benefited very little from the past 20+ years of productivity gains. More like the last 50 years. https://www.pewresearch.

> The middle class have financially benefited very little from the past 20+ years of productivity gains. More like the last 50 years. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/08/07/for-most-... "For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged in decades" The TL;DR is that in 1964 the average hourly wage was $20.27. As of 2018, average hourly wage was $22.65.

zeroonetwothree 10mo ago
1974 median individual income was $28k 2024 median individual income was $45k Over 50 years that’s a decent amount of growth. Obviously it could be better but it’s not nothing. Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N
- amypetrik8 10mo ago
  Sure but pretty sure with your 1974 28k you could buy a nice house, whereas with your 2024 (equivalent) 45k you can buy an OK car, not a house
  - raincole 10mo ago
    In theory this graph is already inflation-adjusted. In practice, I think this shows why economic statistics are borderline lies.
    - marcosdumay 10mo ago
      The problem is inflation. We have no way to reliably measure it over any long time-frame. Make the time long enough, and it even stops making sense as a concept.