Anybody else remember "stagflation" and the "misery index"?
Posted on 05/13/2023 10:52:11 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
Since the 1980s, the economy has changed in ways that are simply difficult to describe. The real impact of inflation and wage stagnation isn’t apparent unless you dig deeper into the numbers. That’s precisely what a recent college grad did when her mother commented on the idea that young workers “expect too much.”
“I think boomers can’t conceptualize this [struggle] because they never had to fight for jobs,” said Cat, a 21-year-old college student. She recently took to TikTok to explain why older workers might find it difficult to empathize with the economic struggles of younger people after a discussion with her mother about mismatched expectations. The video has been viewed 2.2 million times as of May 12.
Cat says her mother made $36,000 a year as an entry-level bank teller in 1980. Meanwhile, the average entry-level worker in America now makes $55,260 a year, according to her calculations. However, when adjusted for inflation the entry-level salary in 1982 — about $33,700 — was closer to $102,200 in today’s dollars.
Effectively, a recent college grad is making half as much as his or her parents did if they graduated 40 years ago. This is also true for low-income workers. The federal minimum hourly wage in the U.S. was $3.10 in 1980 and just $7.25 today. These workers may have doubled their income over 40 years, but it’s apparent the cost of living has accelerated more quickly.
-(SNIP)-
“Boomers had the door wide open and then slammed and barred it behind them,” said one angry commenter to Cat’s video.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
My husband worked at a bank in the late 70s into 1980 as a collector and made $105 a week. He says this girl’s figures are false.
I just looked at my Social Security wage records. In 1980 I was an E-3 or E-4 in the Navy. I made $6785. My father was the manager of a restaurant. I remember he made about $36000 during that time frame. Bank tellers did not make anywhere near that much money.
I worked 3rd shift at Waffle House in college and was glad I had the job
I worked 3rd shift at Waffle House in college and was glad I had the job
Tictokers didn’t live through Carter did they?
This is an article about people who are 90 to 100 years old.
WTH???
Clueless kids.
In 1985, I earned $17,000/yr with my brand new college degree. It got better as time went on, but it took about 8 years for me to get passed $36,000. And I remember the high inflation and interest rates of the late 70s and early 80s. Back then, my economics teacher would actually talk to us about it and explain to us what the causes were.
Viveklsh, as the reporter of this “Money wise” Yahoo Finance article is himself too lazy and stupid to do other than report as accepted fact this idiot TikTokker’s false claims.
We are doomed as citizens of the fallen American Experiment.
I remember. Jobs were scarce in the rural areas of the northern US. Many of the factory jobs in my hometown left for the south. Those jobs eventually went to Mexico and China.
said Cat, a 21-year-old college student.
Let’s see, she was born in 2002.
Didn’t live through the Carter years.
This bozette also doesn’t realize that with way more “college grads” today, many of them are of significantly lower IQ and real educational level than college grads in 1980.
She says she’s looking for income today that she says is equivalent to $16,500 in 1980: which is well more than your run of the mill, less devalued, “college grad” got right off the bat in 1980.
It was half that amount.
What is that person smoking?
““college grads” today, many of them are of significantly lower IQ and real educational level than college grads in 1980.”
They also have less street smarts, are in worse physical shape, and are less capable of thinking independently about anything.
A college degree these days is a highly questionable credential.
If the person is a member of any “diverse” group then suspicions can reasonably be raised that they were given special treatment and did not deserve the degree at all.
I did two years of comm college and two of univ. I worked that into my estimate. It’s naive to say todays college kids are irresponsible They have no control over tuition rates.
Anybody else remember "stagflation" and the "misery index"?
Exactly.
I started my career as a GS-7/9/11 in January 1981 with a BS in Engineering.
I still remember my starting salary was $19,747. All my classmates graduating at the same time said they’d be really excited if their starting salary began with a ‘2’. Mine was pretty close.
No way in hell a bank teller was making $30k in 1980. Unless she was boinking the bank president; does she know who her father is?
Really true, I only had to pay off my small student debt, endure a working-poor childhood, and right before my dad had to change jobs the Arab oil embargo hit and gasoline rose fivefold in price practically overnight, while the Demagogic Party demagogues in Congress were threatening "big oil" with nationalization, and threatening the rest of us with both tax hikes and larger deficits even as Vietnam was being wound down.
“Cat says her mother made $36,000 a year as an entry-level bank teller in 1980.”
I was an entry level worker at a bank in 1984. My salary was $13,500 a year.
L
As a 2nd LT in 1976, my monthly salary was a princely $666.
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