You may as well be talking to the walls. All I have to say is that I knew a woman who worked checkout at an A&P supermarket in Columbia, SC back in 1971 and she was making $4.75 an hour then. That would have to equal at least $47.50 an hour in today’s money. If anyone thinks I exaggerate I invite them to prove me wrong. That was union scale and most stores did not pay that much but even a third of it would be worth fifteen an hour now. You could buy a very nice new car for four thousand dollars then. That grocery checker made enough in six months to pay for a very nice new automobile. People with degrees are working for a fraction of what their
grandparents could earn with a high school diploma.
I bought my first house in Mass in 1974 for $28,000, I made $12,400 that year. Had no problem with a GI bill down payment of a around $1750. Never had a problem with the payment which was less that $250 a month.
In 1971, my parents bought a new 4-bedroom, 3 bath home in CA for $28,000. A new 4-door dodge sedan was ~ $5000. The price of gas was around a quarter and $100 worth of groceries would fill its cavernous trunk.
I believe he paid his employees around $6/hr—significantly over the median at the time. The lady who ran the office probably made less than 5 and was still considered paid well. They were good workers and were paid well and punctually. Many a month my folks weren’t able to draw anything from the business. Almost killed my mom, trying to juggle books and feed a family of six. Every time I’d hear how easy I had it growing up because my parents were “rich” business owners, I’d just laugh.
Many people made a decent living with wages we’d consider obscene today. The purchasing power and wages have gone down every year that I’ve been an adult. That doesn’t even consider the fact that the majority of homes at that point only had one breadwinner—generally that sexist bastard working his ass off for his family.