this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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[–] [email protected] 84 points 3 days ago (3 children)

That generation got paid $45 an hour in today's value.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago

If you scale it to housing prices, it's even more ridiculous.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Federal minimum wage in 1965 was $1.25/h, which is $12.69/h today. Looks like Alaska had the highest state minimum at $2.10, $21.32 today. Or were you taking more average rather than minimum wage?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

They're not talking about "wage", they're talking about "value". I'm assuming "purchasing power".

[–] [email protected] 32 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They never said anything about minimum wage.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

In 2023 median hourly wage was $19.24/h, vs in 1979 it was $4.44/h or $19.56/h inflation adjusted. (This data doesn't go back to 1965 unfortunately)

https://www.statista.com/statistics/185335/median-hourly-earnings-of-wage-and-salary-workers/

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There is a reason median is used here... If you take into account the massive (and constantly growing) income gap, it's obvious that things have gotten worse for the average American.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

You've got it backwards, median takes into account income gap better. Mean would be much higher today because of the increasing income gap. That is why I used the median, so that interesting inequality would be less of a factor.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Are you thinking of a particular source? I couldn't find substantiation for $45/h.