LewiSS

Krash, we're the same age. I talk about the disparity in buying power all the time to my contemporaries. It's no wonder a lot of my friends kids are living in their basements and don't seem to show any inclination to want to move out. how can they? Here in the Denver metro, the "local" minimum wage is about $10, and with that, like you said, even 2 people can't get by. My wife and I in '72 were richer than I am now in disposible income. We had 2 cars (one an Alfa Romeo), took real vacations, had a good stereo and color TV (for the time), and a decent apartment. All on what was basically entry level office jobs. It's not the cost of living - adjusted for inflation, that has probably actually gone down (I know a lot of commodities have). It's wages - for about 20 years inflation has outstripped wages by at least twice. Just what Big Business wants - the more our "real" buying power goes down, the less they are paying us relative to their incomes, and the more profit they make. Inflation has gone up well over 10 times since the minimum wage was $1.25. That would make todays minimum wage about $15 at the least, just adjusted for inflation. Plus, back then few jobs were actually minimum - most office jobs were twice minimum to start. Not now.