[Mikey_1962]

So much for the Go-Go years of the 60's.

[the OlLine Rebel]

"typical family is doing a whole lot better than their grandparents were in 1967"


Here we go again, assuming we're the children of hippies!

My 1 set of grandparents were in their 50s/60s in '67! Their 30s were in the '30s/40s! >:-(

(sorry, just a gripe!)

[river rat]

We may be financially richer today, but I'm convinced we had a better class of human as citizens and neighbors.......excluding the Hippy leftists as usual.

Semper Fi

[Mark Felton]

"Yes, despite their material prosperity, the Medians are a grumpy lot."

The Bible explains this very well.

[Mikey_1962]

Median Income (Men)*
1965 $28,599
1975 $33,148
1985 $42,847
1995 $39,186
2005 $41,386


* All figures in 2005 inflation-adjusted dollars

Median Income (Women)
1965 $9,533 (33% of men)
1975 $12,697 (38% of men)
1985 $27,720 (65% of men)
1995 $27,990 (71% of men)
2005 $31.858 (77% of men)

Household Net Worth
1965 $254,740
1975 $268,234
1985 $292,143
1995 $345,321
2005 $465,970

Personal Savings Rate
1965 8.5%
1975 10.5%
1985 11%
1995 5%
2005 -0.4% (I don't think this includes 401K or houses)

Top Federal Tax Rate
1965 70%
1975 70%
1985 31%
1995 40%
2005 35%

Misery Index (Inflation Plus Unemployment)
1965 6.1%
1975 17.7%
1985 10.7%
1995 8.4%
2005 8.5%

Changes in Purchasing Power
1965 -
1975 10 years: -1.3%
1985 10 years: 0.1% 20 years: -1.2%
1995 10 years: 1.8% 20 years: 1.9% 30 years: 0.6%
2005 10 years: 5.7% 20 years: 8.0% 30 year: 7.5% 40 years: 6.2%

Home Ownership Percentage
1965 63%
1975 68%
1985 64%
1995 65%
2005 69%

Productivity Increases Since 1965
1965 (baseline)
1975 +24%
1985 +42%
1995 +66%
2005 +220%

Percentage of Women in Workforce
1965 34%
1975 39%
1985 44%
1995 46%
2005 46%

Compensation of CEO of largest U.S. Corporation vs. Median Household
In actual dollars for each year

1965 Frederick Donner/General Motors 3.9 million (med. household income = 0.2%)
1975 Ken Jamieson/Exxon $469,550 (med. household income = 3%)
1985 Clifton Garvin/Exxon $1.5 million (med. household income = 2%)
1995 John Smith/General Motors $7 million (med. household income = 0.6%)
2005 Lee Scott/Wal-Mart $19 million (med. household income = 0.2%)


Compensation of highly paid athlete vs. Median Household
In actual dollars for each year

1965 Joe Namath/football $142,333 (med. household income = 5%)
1975 Pele/soccer $1.5 million (median household income = 0.8%)
1985 Mike Schmidt/baseball $2.1 million (median household income = 1.1%)
1995 Michael Jordan/basketball $40 million (median household income = 0.1%)
2005 Tiger Woods/golf $87 million (median household income = 0.1%)

[netmilsmom]

In 1967 I was six years old.
We had one tv that showed three stations. I had a hula hoop, a clothes line that doubled as a jump rope, six Barbies and lots of friends. We had chores to do and could not play until they were done. I washed dishes by hand, we were the only ones in the neighborhood to have a clothes dryer, one car and could take the bus to the local shopping center where the lady at the bakery would give free cookies to the gaggle of kids buying bread. (my mom would write notes to the local Dairy Dell to let me buy cigarettes for her!)

In 2006, my daughter is six years old.
We have four tvs with satellite, two VCRs, two DVDs, twenty computers, a laptop, an old but workable game system, and a room full of toys. I drive my daughters to see their friends because all the moms work to get even MORE things for their kids in daycare. We have a dishwasher, a microwave, washer and dryer and two cars. I make a special point to "teach" the kids to do chores so they know how to do them.

I was happy in 1967.
My daughter is happy too but we are trying to downsize "stuff".

[RightWhale]

It appears to be true that Americans are much wealthier than 40 years ago. It might be worth considering how this can be when American industry has been moving offshore at the same time.

[Popocatapetl]

It is very hard to equate then and now. Here are some of the reasons. 1) The "optimum" family had one breadwinner, not two. The wife/mother stayed home and took care of the kids and did housework. Importantly, when she began to work, the tax rate was doubled. This effectively meant that she was working for the government, not her family, as both her and her husband's "extra" income from her labor was taken from *both* of them. 2) The number of goods available for purchase then were just a fraction of the goods available for purchase today. So after you had what you needed, there was a low curve of what you *could* get, except more of the same. 3) Entertainment was very limited. This explains why so many kids in the 1960s set up "garage bands". There just wasn't a heck of a lot to do, otherwise. It also explains the profusion of music in the 1960s. Here's a nice link for a site that streams a lot of that "also-ran" music: http://www.beyondthebeatgeneration.com/ 4) Entertainment was divided into "adult" and "child", which was why Disneyland was such a hit. It had things that were entertaining for both. If you were a teenager, you didn't want toys, and you couldn't go to adult oriented clubs. 5) The typical man's job was for life, if he was lucky. It paid wages with few other perks except at the upper executive level. Insurance was limited to mostly life and fire as the standard policies. Health costs were in cash or cheque to a doctor, and were much lower per capita. Taking all this into account, there really is no way to compare then and now as far as income vs. quality of life.

[TheCrusader]

"And thanks to ballooning real estate values, average household net worth has increased even faster the average cost of a house is out of sight for most Americans, unless they inherit a large downpayment and work at least three jobs per family."

I remember 1967 very well, and the average America family was much better off economically then than now. These flim-flam "statistics" they throw at us today are just a lot of smoke and mirrors. How's this for a real statistic? In 1967 my parents could afford to buy a nice home in a middle class neighborhood in a desirable suburb, and there were six children and only one job, (my father's). And his job was a menial laborer's job. Furthermore, mothers back then could stay home and raise their children without the necessity of going to work to help pay the mortgage and put food on the table. The rule-of-thumb back then with banks was that the mortgage, (and rents), should be roughly 1/4th of your monthly salary. Accept for the upper middle class today, and the wealthy, I cannot imagine a family paying only one quarter of their income for their mortgage.

There are other important factors too. College education being a big one. In 1967 I think that state colleges cost about $500. per year to attend, maybe less. Books were a dime a dozen. Today, college is prohibitively expensive for most people, even state collegtes. Gasoline was dirt cheap, about 33 cents a gallon. A movie theatre ticket was 75 cents and the consession snacks and drinks were 10 cents. Public transportation was a nickle. A slice of pizza was a dime. Stamps were 5 cents. Candy bars were 5 cents and were twice the size of today's version. Jobs were static and secure, with no need for about two or three career changes as in today's economy. Prices were stable too, and when costs rose they were always minimal. A "usable" used car, (one that still had a dependable year left on it), could be bought for $100.00, or less. Utilities were dirt cheap, and I mean dirt cheap. Restaurants did not tax your meals, state sales taxes had not yet been introduced in my state, (which meant you got to keep at least 5 - 8% more of your income then). There were no federal "line charges" on your telephones, auto inspection stickers were $1.00,; you could enjoy a major league baseball game in the bleacher (cheap) seats for 50 cents; and on and on it goes. In other words, no matter how small your paycheck may have been, you got to keep most of it and you could stretch it out quite far.

Unless you consider electronic gadgets to be the "economy", it is laughable to claim that today's economy is better than it was in 1967.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

I do remain jealous of the music of the '60s. Seminal rock, bossa nova, Johnny Cash at his prime, surf music, just about everything from A&M, even Elvis... it was truly the golden age.

[truemiester]

I was 10 in 1967.

A dozen years later or so, it was common to say that "the one who dies with the most stuff, wins!". And we beleived it.

Now, as a grandfather, I really believe it is the one who dies with the most offspring (that can be raised without goverment support) is the winner. As I no longer can play this game (thanks to Dr. Cut-n-snip) I can appreaciate those who do.

I am happier now than 1967! (No home work!)

[napscoordinator]

I was not born yet, but my parents were married that year. They say they were really happy that year. I came alone two years later in 1969. They are turning the big 60 this year. Yieks. I remember my Grandparents being in there 60's. Time sure does not stop for anyone.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

I do remain jealous of the music of the '60s. Seminal rock, bossa nova, Johnny Cash at his prime, surf music, just about everything from A&M, even Elvis... it was truly the golden age.

[winodog]

Saturdays mom went shopping while we went to the matinee once in awhile. Popcorn came in a small fold up box. All the kids would eat their popcorn and drink the soda in a hurry so that you could toss the box like a frisbee. When the lights went out everyone screamed and all the boxes and cups went flying everywhere. That was about "bad" as anyone ever got.

We never went to the movies at night but we went to the drive in. Mom would make a huge brown bag of popcorn and koolaid. Pile into the station wagon with pillows and blankets and be sound asleep 10 minutes after the second movie started. I never did see a second flick there.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

And in May, a Pew Research Center poll showed that half of U.S. adults believe the current trends point toward their children's future being worse than their own present.

These folks are watching too much TV and reading too many newspapers.

[driftless2]

I my family which included seven brothers and sisters was poor in the fifties. We lived in a basement house and father was the sole breadwinner. Now I have two sisters who are in the millionaire category in total wealth despite neither one having a college degree. My other sibs are doing very nicely too. NO ONE! went to Vegas in the fifties. Because nobody had money they could afford to waste. Now just about everybody but me does.

[xzins]

Mr. and Mrs. Median's $46,326 in annual income is 32% more than their mid-'60s counterparts, even when adjusted for inflation, and 13% more than those at the median in the economic boom year of 1985. And thanks to ballooning real estate values, average household net worth has increased even faster. The typical American household has a net worth of $465,970, up 83% from 1965, 60% from 1985 and 35% from 1995.

Mr & Mrs Media in the Mid-60's had only one member of the household working. It should be at least 100% higher than in those years.

There is no comment in the text that indicates they have accounted for this fact.

[Rembrandt]

A new car cost about $2,000 in the '60's. My parents had one car, a small house, 3 kids; we all ate a lot of casseroles, the type of fare that today would be referred to as rotgut.

It seems to me that American people have it awfully darn good these days but, like we've always been, we like to bitch about life.

Nothing wrong with that.

[XR7]

Yeah.
But way back then, you could buy a house for roughly the amount of your annual income (with just one wage-earner in the house).
What average working stiff could do that today?

[marc costanzo]

Information is misleading .

The buying power of the American Dollar has gone down a great deal(compared to the rest of the world's currencies) .

Job Security is becoming a relic of the past .

In 1960 America's population was 89% White,

today it is less than 68% (not counting Latino Caucasians not born here) .

In 1960 we Americans made everything we needed right here with our own and owned industries and factories .
We only imported raw materials(like petroleum)from foreign sources
and some toys from Japan . .

China now outproduces the US in Steel production.

So, how are we better off ?

A ton of electronic gizmos to keep us diverted ?

[WashingtonSource]

I don't believe the "typical household" as $450,000 in equity in their homes. NO WAY. This is BS.