He retired in 2011 making $27 an hour. Stocking shelves with a pension. So you need to compare $27 an hour to retail workers 2011 in which he was still living the life because he was grandfathered into the benefits his union gave them before they broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Unionized retail in the '90s was making about $15 an hour in New England. By comparison when I applied for the same job in 2011 I was offered around $8 an hour with no pension and a pay cap at $13/hr no matter how long youve been there and if I wish to be in a management position I would have taken a 25% pay cut from previous generation managers and be required to have a college degree. Around that same time people were fighting for $15 an hour to be the minimum wage because it was clear that historically companies could have afforded it. Said they cut pension funds dumped everything into 401Ks and have been making bank ever since.
Median salary 2011 was 34.4k, he would be making 51,8k (assuming a 160 month twelve months a year).
Well, its a big complicated mess in general related to fewer positions with more people applying to them.
Only thing i would find weird is people advocating for 15/h in any major way in 2011, since the 7.25 was signed in 2009. The 15/h movement as far as I know is more recent, and several states have already adopted it.
That whole generation was living the high life. Not only were wages and benefits higher then to scale, many also already had substantial equity much earlier in life compared to today.
CoL was already through the roof compared to the lives of boomers back then, and corporations haven't done much to improve it even back to the 1990s standards since, as CoL continues to outpace wage growth which continues to remain stagnant, unlike year after year of record profits.
Ah there we go, i only remember them making the news around 2014-2015.
Well so so.
The median wealth and income has increased since then adjusted for inflation. And the median standard of living is better. But its a big country, with many pockets of highs and lows.
The median house price has actually not increased very much since 1963 (adjusted for inflation). But, in certain states it has, and in certain areas it definitely has. While in others it's the reverse.
You want to live out in the country, that would today be cheaper then in 1963, but in New York? Forget it.
This is a result of urbanisation, and it is a global phenomenon. (And houses today are better then back then)
And when you say substantial equity, I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Do you mean share of equity, because that is true, but also a half truth.
12 years of the public knowing $15/hr would need to be livable and we still don't have it. Locale for real estate is surely important, but due to the lack of minimum wage growth, you also likely won't get a job in the area that will pay enough for you to afford a house.
Wage theft also still is the number 1 crime in the US, with little to no penalties. McDonald's franchise last year had 300 kids working for it, fined less than $700/kid. Ouch, that dinged their profits a little. If minimum wage was higher, it would have had more of an impact, but it's a joke now. Sackler family gets a fine that doesn't even exceed the interest on their equity for killing thousands and getting millions addicted to drugs. Banks get a bailout for knowingly giving out bad loans and leave the people who trusted them high and dry. Hell millennials were lucky to see Enron execs go to jail. It was probably the last time we will ever see accountability.
New build quality of houses is also tied to newer more efficient technologies to build them, with better methods while usually using inferior materials in comparison. So it's cheaper to build them but exponentially more expensive when supply is controlled by the wealthy.
In short, the US economy for most Americans, specifically working class/ millennials and younger is joining a monopoly game about 40 turns in and getting told, well if you work hard you'll at least get $25 for passing go, oh and there's no luxury tax.
That's why it's not the minimum wage in most states, and even places without a state minimum wage has an effectively higher minimum wage. But I'm sure you could build a house to 1980s standard in rural Arizona for example.
I think you're broadening the discussion right now to places I can't really follow. If you want to discuss for example the sacklers, I'm sure there are more qualified people.
Well so so, there is usually nothing wrong with the materials, and they hold higher standards then from the 1980s (not to mention higher environmental standards, electrical standards, and internet) what really drives the cost is the more advanced regulations compared to then.
Most millennials are, and will be doing just fine. Millennials trying to get into the pockets where housing costs have exploded will admittedly have a way harder time. And they're competing with Gen X for the top income brackets.
Speak for yourself. The majority of single millennials like myself are nowhere near buying houses unless their parents already helped them. In my case, the home owning millennials I know, one got married in the 2010s, early, and got housing cheap, another was given her husband's mom's summer home, my sister's husband was given a loan from his parents, also in the 2010 market. The mortgage for those houses is about $1100/month. My rent is $1923. I won't be able to look at a house for another 5 years to a decade making near 6 figures, and I just left a neighboring state where the low end of rent is $2200.
If minimum wage is so easily obtainable over $7.25 that everyone is doing it, why not just raise the minimum wage? Oh yes, because it would hurt profits and the stock market, and we all know the economy makes no sense with a pyramid scheme that has infinite growth YoY, yet somehow we all are fine with companies doing that with Wall Street. US economic profit policy is short term only, let the pigs have their fat, cut the rest.
And are making decent money. Like, if you're making 50-60k, you're in the middle of the pack. And the older millennials are about to enter the peak of their earning potential. And a bit over half of millennials own their own homes, 54% as compared to 72% for Gen X, and Baby boomers at 78%.
It's seemingly easy enough that 99% of workers make more. And most states did set their own limits.
Lololol median rent in the US is $2166. It's achievable alright. I'm looking at it right now. At 34, it's going to be about 4-5 more years of that rent before even considering a down payment. And that's if more random expenses don't come out of the clouds and that's making near 6 figures.
Pretty achievable with dual income/parental aid. My dad was building a house on single income in the late 80s stocking shelves at Stop and Shop building a house that's now worth over $400k with 2546 SQ ft. That's with my mom, my sister already born in 1986, and then me in 89. Then they were able to afford her going to a $40k/year college and me to a $22k/year college without loans. That's what happens when your CoL is rock fucking bottom in comparison to today. Rent for a 2 bedroom was $300/month. My dad made that in half a week. I pay mine in 2 weeks worth of checks.
Owning a house before 40 is perfectly achievable, and usually the age you would get a home. Depending on where you live.
Yeah, almost everything gets easier with a partner.
And hey, you could buy a plot of land in a rural area, or a cheap urban area, and build one. Assuming its 1980s code, it will be significantly cheaper.
So just work hard and dont let your memes be dreams.
Advance my career? I work under the VP for my company in my dream job I just spent the last 7 years working my ass off to get. I went through 3 companies, advanced my salary over $70k and now I'm where I want to be and I have to "advance my career" more? You crazy? My dad worked at fucking Stop and Shop and didn't need to advance shit. Generations before him could just single income all this shit. I am over the 25th percentile of SENIOR logistics analysts ALREADY. It's not a meme, it's my life right now. I make about 25% more than my dad did, to scale, and yet now spend 3 TIMES the amount of time just to pay rent which is 6 times higher. This bootstraps bullshit is over, the system is broken.
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u/lostcauz707 8d ago edited 8d ago
He retired in 2011 making $27 an hour. Stocking shelves with a pension. So you need to compare $27 an hour to retail workers 2011 in which he was still living the life because he was grandfathered into the benefits his union gave them before they broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005. Unionized retail in the '90s was making about $15 an hour in New England. By comparison when I applied for the same job in 2011 I was offered around $8 an hour with no pension and a pay cap at $13/hr no matter how long youve been there and if I wish to be in a management position I would have taken a 25% pay cut from previous generation managers and be required to have a college degree. Around that same time people were fighting for $15 an hour to be the minimum wage because it was clear that historically companies could have afforded it. Said they cut pension funds dumped everything into 401Ks and have been making bank ever since.