how the minimum wage fails to keep up with inflation

[Bill McBlueState]

I posted this in Economic Issues, but I suppose more will see it here...

I made a post in my live journal about how the minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation, much less other increases in the cost of living over the past 50 years.

Here's a chart, using data from here.



The black line shows the minimum wage in that year's dollars. You can see how the minimum wage stays constant for several years at a time, then jumps up a bit when federal legislation is passed to increase it.

The red line shows the minimum wage in constant dollars. (They're 1996 dollars, so the two curves overlap in 1996.) See how when you account for inflation, the minimum wage peaked in 1968, dropped off dramatically during the Nixon and Reagan administrations, and has been roughly constant since then. Clearly Republican presidents don't look out for the working class, but it's not like Democrats have done a great job either. This is why getting a job just doesn't solve all your problems the way it used to.

This isn't anything earth-shattering, but maybe that plot will come in handy if anyone ever wants to prove this point.

[Bill McBlueState]

1. kick

:kick:

[Nay]

2. This is excellent! I have always told people that when I was in

college in 1970, I worked a minimum wage job, rented a small house, had a (very) used car, and paid for school as well. No one believes I could have done that, because of course it would be impossible to do that these days. this chart shows that it was much more possible back then.