3 ms·

Is standard of living increasing? At least in terms of wage growth adjusted for inflation that’s not true.

• sokoloff 9y ago
  Do you believe that the 25th percentile of income today has a higher standard of living than the 50th percentile person in "the golden age" of 1950? I do. Today's 25th percentile person is likely to have air conditioning, refrigeration, internet, a cell phone, a microwave oven, an HDTV, and a reliable car that needs very little routine maintenance and has air bags and antilock brakes. Today's 50th percentile is beating 1950s 75th percentile adding easy, affordable, safe, and reliable air transportation and living in a far larger house than their 1950s half-again higher counterpart. Today's 75th percentile is beating the 95th percentile in 1950. All of them have better health care options, and a longer life expectancy. Real wage growth may not have arrived for those who trade their hours for wages, but the standard of living available from those wages has risen dramatically.