"40% Of US Workers Now Earn Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage"

[applegrove]

40% Of US Workers Now Earn Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage

Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

http://soundmoneyinstitute.org/40-of-us-workers-now-earn-less-than-1968-minimum-wage/

"SNIP............................


Are American workers paid enough? That is a topic that is endlessly debated all across this great land of ours. Unfortunately, what pretty much everyone can agree on is that American workers are not making as much as they used to after you account for inflation. Back in 1968, the minimum wage in the United States was $1.60 an hour. That sounds very small, but after you account for inflation a very different picture emerges. Using the inflation calculator that the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides, $1.60 in 1968 is equivalent to $10.74 today.

And of course the official government inflation numbers have been heavily manipulated to make inflation look much lower than it actually is, so the number for today should actually be substantially higher than $10.74, but for purposes of this article we will use $10.74. If you were to work a full-time job at $10.74 an hour for a full year (with two weeks off for vacation), you would make about $21,480 for the year.

That isn’t a lot of money, but according to the Social Security Administration, 40.28% of all workers make less than $20,000 a year in America today. So that means that more than 40 percent of all U.S. workers actually make less than what a full-time minimum wage worker made back in 1968. That is how far we have fallen.

The other day I wrote an article which discussed the transition that we are witnessing in our economy right now. Good paying full-time jobs are disappearing, and they are being replaced by low paying part-time jobs. So far this year, 76.7 percent of the jobs that have been “created” in the U.S. economy have been part-time jobs.

..........................SNIP"

[TheMastersNemesis]

1. By The Time To GOP Maggots And The US Chamber Is Done Is Done 80% Will Be Below Minimum Wage.

[Sherman A1]

10. If they get their way, there will be no minimum wage

period. This is what they really want, because of course that minimum wage represents business regulation. "Let the marketplace decide!"

[brewens]

2. In '68, one hour of work would get you a six-pack and a pack of smokes at minimum

wage. What's that now, $12?

[Mr.Bill]

5. It would also buy you about five gallons of gas.

And the price of gas, which then as now, pretty much drives the price of everything. How much gas can you get for one hour today at minimum wage? About two gallons.

[Paulie]

6. $9 for the smokes and $7 for the sixer

Add a few more bucks for payroll taxes and deductions. So almost 3 hours for comparable.

[hughee99]

8. Yes, and the same government that is giving these businesses tax breaks

is also raising taxes on both of those things to make up for it.

[QuestForSense]

9. Chicago Loop prices

Pack of Marlboro: $12.00 ($6.66 of that is tax)
Six pack of Heineken: $9.00
Price of gasoline: $4.48/gallon for the cheap stuff, today
The 2013 Illinois state minimum wage rate is $8.25 per hour.

[Mnemosyne]

3. Beyond sickening. K&R nt

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Savvy!

[roguevalley]

7. If you want to be as pissed as me, get this. My granddaughter who waitresses in

GEORGIA makes $2.13 AN HOUR!!!!!!!

Their excuse? She gets tips. FUCK THAT! I made that much money an hour in 1971.


Fuck this country.

[Skittles]

11. it is shocking

then you see what kind of crap those wait folk have to put up with - WTF

[hfojvt]

21. what does she make after tips?

and what were you making after tips?

[roguevalley]

23. she works nights. 5-20$ tips on good night

[B Calm]

12. Hopefully there will be a judgment day soon. Workers need to take a stand!

[Fumesucker]

13. Everyone needs to bear in mind that this did not happen by accident

It is deliberate government policy.

Meanwhile the 1% gets an ever increasing share of the GDP, also deliberate government policy.

[Octafish]

14. Well, when both major parties serve Wall Street, We the People got a problem.

Happy Days Are Here Again isn't on Main Street kick.

[Fumesucker]

15. Bob Dylan said You Gotta Serve Somebody

And he gives a fairly black and white set of choices.

[Mojorabbit]

19. And he was right! Love that song. :) nt

[jtuck004]

16. "about 46 percent of New Yorkers were making less than 150 percent of the poverty threshold"

How we expect to fund education, infrastructure, retirements, and security on this I can't imagine. Even for those who are taking more than their share, and not paying a fair amount in taxes, do they think they live in a bubble? This will come down, and those they leave behind will bear the consequences, I expect.

Here.

[JRLeft]

17. And we are getting less every year.

So many morons in this country are anti union.

[MillennialDem]

18. But But but - how much are the 1% making? That's all that matters!

[CakeGrrl]

20. Where is America's breaking point?

What will finally get Americans to take to the streets the way Egyptians and Libyans recently have?

[GiaGiovanni]

22. Take away their cable

That'll get them moving.