Median household income of $51K == $28K in 1990, $17K in 1980, $8K in 1970 [View all]

[phantom power]

Just an observation, using this inflation calculator:
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

The reason I started thinking about it, is this post about how older people (and I'm now old enough to experience this) tend to think of money being worth more than it is. When I started working (1992), a salary of $51K would be like a salary of $82K today.

This isn't in response to anything in particular, but I continue to be amazed at how oblivious many olds (defined as anyone who is older than me, of course) are to the fact that The Kids Today have it really freaking hard. You know, the "I worked my way through college why can't you" crowd.

Public higher education used to be cheap. It isn't anymore. This means people who supposedly do the right thing and get that education are 20 grand in debt (or more, of course) at age 22, at which point they can go work for free for awhile to get "exposure" to hopefully land a job paying $38K ($13,500 in 1980 money) and somehow pay off their student debt, save for a downpayment, get hitched and have kids, and buy a house.

The math doesn't add up. I increasingly do think nominal illusion is part of it, as, say, $50,000 sounds like A LOT OF MONEY for a starting job for the older generation, but in 2014 it isn't that much money.

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2014/02/the-wage-is-too-damn-low.html