this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2024
71 points (98.6% liked)
Vintage and Retro Ads, Promos, Fliers, Etc.
551 readers
1 users here now
For sharing images of vintage magazine ads, fliers, promos, etc.
We're going to play it pretty loose with timeframe here so please don't get offended anyone :)
founded 4 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I remember going out in the 80s as a family of four and the bill averaging around $20-25 total. I miss that. It's nearly or over $100 to take my family out to eat now.
Something I like to consider, how different is your salary today compared to one from then? Do you, technically, make 4x as much now vs an 80s wage, in line with the 4x cost increase?
Naturally, it’s still not going to be a great answer either, but I’ve learned to take things with a grain of salt and instead of comparing dollar costs from then and now, get a wage from the same time and convert it all to working hours.
Example, my gramps liked to talk about 10 cent cheeseburgers at a time when they were a dollar. He also used to make about a dollar an hour compared to my $8/hr at the time. Yes, that means it’s not equal inflation between wage and cost(that’s the real problem), but at the same time they are both up and cheeseburgers were not as drastically more expensive than they used to be.
Unless you want to rope quality into this then it’s just depressing...
What I’m saying is, dollar for dollar, everyone gets hooked on seeing a platter meal so much cheaper than today and despairs. They forget the guy buying it also made near ten times less than you do at the time.
TL;DR: My understanding: While not equal and unfortunately drifting apart, costs and wages both inflate. Weren’t wages almost as low as that food price at the time?
In 1988 I was a single mom without child support. I had no help and no generational wealth. I went to free (except for books) community college in the mornings, then rushed to my M-F bartender job from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. at a tiny establishment frequented by construction workers.
Working 30 hours a week, I paid for a 2 bedroom/2 bath spacious apartment in a beautiful area with pool and a view. Utilities and bills were as much as rent, and childcare alone took as much as all expenses. I still had what would amount to $560 in today’s dollars PER WEEK for clothes, vacations, entertainment.
We often went to Disneyland. We flew around for holidays. We wore the nicest clothes and I threw big parties.
What’s going on right now - what young people are trying to deal with - is fucking criminal. Everyone should be able to live in comfort with disposable income the same way people did 36 years ago. No “well inflation” or “but wages” excuses.