[dradernh]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

National average income 1970: $8,730 ($68,557 in 2023 money)
National average income 2023: $59,384

National average home price 1970: $23,400 ($183,763 in 2023 money)
National average rent price 1970: $108/mo ($848 in 2023 money)
National average home price 2023: $495,100
National average rent price 2023: $1,372/mo

So accounting for inflation, average income has dropped 13%, but the average price of a home has increased 169% since 1970. Rent has jumped 62%.

Granted these numbers are pulled from different sources, and I don't know why I chose 1970, but it doesn't matter - it paints the picture that income has dropped a considerable amount and the cost to live has really gone up.

As somone who lived and worked in San Francisco, California in 1970, I'd suggest it's an excellent starting point. The reason for that is it was early days in a decade of remarkable inflation. At the beginning of the decade, home prices hadn't begun the meteoric rise in California property values that continues to this day, and a working stiff could still support a family and own a home in the City. That reality soon ended.

The 1970s was the decade this country began to choose to live beyond its means in a significant way, and we've been doing so ever since. See:

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/us-d...y-year-3306306

We've generally been successful because we have the world's reserve currency (read: foreigners will buy the bonds that finance our annual deficits) and because we're still rich enough to make the interest payments on our current $34.6 trillion of national debt. However, the day of reckoning is approaching, and to continue to make the numbers work, Americans who are younger today will find it necessary to pull the plug on the party. I'm glad I won't be here to see how that plays out.

Since the subject is minimum wage workers, it's worth noting that the difference in the financial lives of much of the bottom 50% and the lives of those in the top 20% are so different that it's a wonder we don't have more social unrest. I've assumed it's because the American Dream is still alive and well and that it continues to inspire our citizens as it draws-in millions of people from around the world, both legally and illegally. That dream must be kept alive or the day when we won't recognize our country may be closer than we imagine.

Originally Posted by TboneS54

Another political stunt meant to solicit future votes; nothing more.

There's no real need at this time, as CA is fully and completely a one-party state. Running with your thought, though, it's certainly yet another form of virtue signaling.