• nbafantest@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m not sure thats possible. There probably hasnt ever been a time when the median Wages were $0

        • Petri3136@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          The number 0 still exists. The chart does show arbitrary values higher and lower than the line. Choosing a lower limit other than 0 is a dishonest choice. It’s the first lesson I taught kids about when I touched on media literacy. Ask yourself why the author chose the mode they used and any arbitrary choices they made.

        • tombombadil@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          That’s not the point–because the y-axis doesn’t start at zero, the changes in wages look more drastic than they actually are.

          • nbafantest@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m not sure I follow, the OP is clearly wrong about wages not increasing. Real wages are increasing.

    • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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      1 year ago

      Christ I don’t know how you look at that without being disgusted unless you are literally just seeing a line go up and stopping all thought processes at that.

      That is a 40 year period with a net increase of $50 per week.

      The inflation from 1980 to now averages about 3% per year or a cumulative 270+% in those 40 years.

      The purchasing power of $315 in 1980 is equivalent to roughly $1,300 today (and it’s technically more based on metrics).

      So us making $365 today means we are getting the equivalent of a pay reduction to $90 in 1980 or a drop of 72% of our pay

      The average American is making ~28% of what an equivalent job would be in 1980!

      No we aren’t better off. I don’t know how you couldn’t be sickened by that.

      • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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        1 year ago

        Oh also just to add onto that.

        It means to be making an average wage for 1980 you would have to be making ~$35/hr to be making $1,400 a week or $70,000 a year to be middle class so no wonder people say wage happiness starts at $72,000 a year it’s literally where you need to be to have the purchasing power of someone 40 years ago.

        Any lower than $35/hr and you have been lowered further down the rung of lower class. So if you are making federal minimum wage you have been fucked for some time. Everyone should look at their own wages and how it matches to $35/hr and realize how we have been screwed over.

    • mwguy@infosec.pub
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      1 year ago

      $30 of increase since the 1980s is entirely are up by problems in how we measure CPI. Even the understatement in housing alone would eat up that “increase.”

      • nbafantest@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        $30 of real wages increase.

        Yes we do have a housing shortage, but OP is wrong about wages not increasing

        • mwguy@infosec.pub
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          1 year ago

          Systemic problems in how we measure “real” dollars have probably outpaced $30 in that timeframe.