But also, inflation is only relevant to purchasing power, and does not represent the entire increase to the cost of living. Suvival itself has become more expensive because of new expenses that didn’t exist in 1938. More young adults carry a significant debt cost from education, healthcare expenses, home purchases, car purchases, and general debt. Credit was harder to come by, and was structured to avoid long-term repayments. There are also transportation costs, heating and cooling utility costs, internet, cell service, not to mention the cost of food. Fewer people grow their own food, and you cannot survive a Mid-Atlantic summer without air-conditioning.
$4.50 an hour might have been a poverty wage in 1938, but it would represent destitution today.
Fair point. Politicians have always been shitty.
But also, inflation is only relevant to purchasing power, and does not represent the entire increase to the cost of living. Suvival itself has become more expensive because of new expenses that didn’t exist in 1938. More young adults carry a significant debt cost from education, healthcare expenses, home purchases, car purchases, and general debt. Credit was harder to come by, and was structured to avoid long-term repayments. There are also transportation costs, heating and cooling utility costs, internet, cell service, not to mention the cost of food. Fewer people grow their own food, and you cannot survive a Mid-Atlantic summer without air-conditioning.
$4.50 an hour might have been a poverty wage in 1938, but it would represent destitution today.