oxjox, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago)

Fair enough. This is a version of the chart I’ve seen and had in mind. I suppose the difference is in relation to minimum wage. https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/a5e56d42-deab-4dd0-9cca-88c1bf6d41ad.png

“We have seen that complete divorce between wages and productivity and massively increased inequality with most gains going to people at the top.”
cbsnews.com/…/minimum-wage-26-dollars-economy-pro…

“Purchasing power” is the metric I’ve been thinking about.

This decline in purchasing power means low-wage workers have to work longer hours now just to achieve the standard of living that was considered the bare minimum half a century ago.
epi.org/…/raising-the-federal-minimum-wage-to-15-…

Here specifically is the web page I’ve kept in mind when referring to productivity (and I admit that off the top of my head “the 70s” was a bit off).

In fact, had the federal minimum wage kept pace with workers’ productivity since 1968 the inflation-adjusted minimum wage would be $24 an hour.
aflcio.org/what-unions-do/…/minimum-wage

I concede that “young adults” and “low wage workers” shouldn’t be confused.

I’ve edited my previous comment. Thank you for the point.