[lucysmom]

You ignore the fact that wages have deflated significantly. The cost of housing, not inlcuding interest rates, is sky high. Energy is sky high.

When minimum wage was $1.25, regular gas was 26 cents a gallon, now minimum wage is $5.15 and regular gas is around $3.00 a gallon. A cottage that rented for $65 back then rents today for $1,200. A minimum wage worker would need to work 52 hours to pay $65 rent and 233 hours (assuming no taxes) to rent the same cottage today. A $1.25 would buy 4.8 gallons of gas contrasted with $5.15 buying 1.7 gallons of gas at $3.00 a gallon.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Great anecdotes! How many people worked at the minimum then and now? Never mind, I'll go to a WalMart thread for my daily dose of anecdotes.