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Would you care to elaborate on your point? If at all the US Census does not agree with the affirmation that "making ends meet is now easier than in the 1950's-1

Would you care to elaborate on your point? If at all the US Census does not agree with the affirmation that "making ends meet is now easier than in the 1950's-1970's". Median income per household (in 2008 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars.) [[2008 : $50,303], [1968 : $41,995]] +19.8% Consumer Price Index (CPI-U-RS) [[2008 : 316.2], [1968: 58.3]] +442.7% To be honest, people below poverty line has not changed that much... [[2008 : 13.2%], [1968 : 12.8%]] +3.125% source: http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-236.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-236.pdf

yummyfajitas 16y ago
Using CPI-adjusted dollars is an incorrect way to measure inflation. We know CPI overstated inflation a LOT (the Boskin report says about 1.3%/year, up to 1996). Correcting your figures for this, we find CPI+Boskin adjusted median household income is actually up 72%. (This assumes CPI was not overstated after 1996.) http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/boskinrpt.html http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/boskinrpt.html We might have 13.2% of people below the poverty line, but on the other hand virtually all the people currently below the poverty line have flush toilets. That wasn't the case in 1968 (see the link in my previous post). In fact, people below the poverty line in 2007 have a standard of living comparable to the middle class of 1968. Most of the poor live in a house with < 1 person per bedroom, a complete kitchen, 1/3 have a dishwasher, 2/3 have a washing machine, about half have AC, most have a car. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/h150-07.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/h150-07.pdf My grandparents were middle class, and they didn't come close to that level of prosperity. And the majority of people below the poverty level work less than half the year (by choice). Only 15% of poor adults work full time, 50 weeks a year. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2007.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2007.pdf

yummyfajitas 16y ago

Using CPI-adjusted dollars is an incorrect way to measure inflation. We know CPI overstated inflation a LOT (the Boskin report says about 1.3%/year, up to 1996). Correcting your figures for this, we find CPI+Boskin adjusted median household income is actually up 72%. (This assumes CPI was not overstated after 1996.) http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/boskinrpt.html http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/boskinrpt.html We might have 13.2% of people below the poverty line, but on the other hand virtually all the people currently below the poverty line have flush toilets. That wasn't the case in 1968 (see the link in my previous post). In fact, people below the poverty line in 2007 have a standard of living comparable to the middle class of 1968. Most of the poor live in a house with < 1 person per bedroom, a complete kitchen, 1/3 have a dishwasher, 2/3 have a washing machine, about half have AC, most have a car. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/h150-07.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/h150-07.pdf My grandparents were middle class, and they didn't come close to that level of prosperity. And the majority of people below the poverty level work less than half the year (by choice). Only 15% of poor adults work full time, 50 weeks a year. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2007.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2007.pdf