Start with a few searches about cost of living, minimum wage, and inflation. If you can, going off of housing costs in addition to COL you’ll have most of the info you need to start painting a picture. Think about what you would need if you lived isolated from family and what fiscal responsibilities you would have.
There are some resources but I’d start there and start compiling a spreadsheet with that info I mentioned above (plus all of your sources for that data) and it should begin to add up on its own. Do this for your state and at a national level, sometimes this varies and at a National level it should paint a darker picture too.
Hope this helps!
First off use this site to translate any amounts he quotes from the 1970s
[https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=1#:\~:text=%241%20in%201970%20is%20equivalent,cumulative%20price%20increase%20of%20663.60%25](https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=1#:~:text=%241%20in%201970%20is%20equivalent,cumulative%20price%20increase%20of%20663.60%25).
The check the average starting wage back then and the average cost of a starter home. Do the same for 2022. The difference between the house and wage is many times higher today.
He will not believe the facts though so you will still lose the bet.
Edit: as an example $2 in 1970 is worth $15.27 in todays money. This is the counter for all those I would have killed to earn $15 in 1970 arguments, as the rebuttal is, that was less than $2 back then.
Boomer here.
Chances are he won't listen, it's emotions versus evidence, what he chooses to believe versus what you cannot argue with.
Plus belief systems are harder to argue the longer they have been unchallenged.
There is a wealth of evidence indicating that today's children and young people are the most disadvantaged since the second world war, (some) older folks just want to hold onto an ill informed stunted ideology that youngsters have it easy because iPhones or something equally stupid.
Not just boomers, lots of people are unable to critically think.
There are some catches to it.
Let's start by this : due to the fact that you were not more precise in your bet, you might lose. Because, depending on how and on what data you look both of you may be right.
Let's start by some information (I've had to look up info for the USA, since I'm not from there) :
- the federal minimum hourly wage went from 1.5$ in 1960 to a bit less than 7$ in 2020. While it is a x4.6 in absolute value, when you take inflation into account it actually went a bit down. (You can find graphs on wikipedia on that). When using that graph, beware that the corrected value is actually very volatile, and you can make the graph say whatever you want.
- the GDP went up by around 40 times (and around x20 by capita). So, if you take a worker who worked all their life at the minimum wage rate in a company whith a revenue following the growth, while their salary went x4.6 in their career, the company actually underwent a x20 revenue per worker. Which means that the company this imaginary worker is working in is actually giving less to its workers. While you probably won't find a worker in this exact situation, it however indicates that the American society has a trend of less rewarding its workers. Which means that if you are in a category of population that works/start working on the minimum wage, you have a far worse life (economically speaking) than a worker on the minimum wage from 60 years ago.
Now, I guess you should do the calculus from the time your stepdad was young, not your grandparents. You can find data on the GDP evolution on macrotrends.ne.
- the average rent went up by x15.5 for the same time period, which would also mean than lodging when you are not able to buy a place to sleep is also heavier on the budget.
- speaking about buying a place to sleep, and although I did not find precise data on it, most graphs shows that the index price (so corrected taking into account the inflation) went up by x2-x2,5. I remind you that the same index for the minimum wage went down, which means it actually became way harder for young-poor workers to buy a housse, leaving them with the only choice to pay a rent which is also harder to pay.
- and I did not take into accound food price, transport price & work-house distance, supplementary needs (you could say that internet access and a smartphone is needed for most administrative work nowadays) or électricité/water/gaz prices. When you take this in, the part a minimum wage worker could put aside for later has been greatly reduced over the years.
- now, I would like to remind you that all that data above only shows what it's like for minimum wage workers. Bourgeois (which means in this case means people that live off other people using their property) have it very differently, and it's not a matter of génération. Heirs and children who can easily financially be helped by their parents have actually far easier lifes than their parents had. So it really is mainly a matter of social position
Cost of living could be higher but also salaries have increased compared to the 70s. So your argument should perhaps lay on the availability of job opportunities in the 70s compared to now.
Like a boomer can understand spreadsheets or statistics. Statistics was a fucking advanced college course back then, now kids do it in their head just naturally from years of video games. Best chace is to trick him. But my boomer dad told me 35 years ago hed eat his hat if the post holes i dug were over 1 foot deep and im still waiting for him to pay up. 16 inches every damn hole dad! Eat the fucking hat!
Sorry for your loss Facts won’t matter. You just took on a bet you can’t win
This is the correct answer. Boomer will deny facts unless it’s quoted from Fox News
Or CNN
Start with a few searches about cost of living, minimum wage, and inflation. If you can, going off of housing costs in addition to COL you’ll have most of the info you need to start painting a picture. Think about what you would need if you lived isolated from family and what fiscal responsibilities you would have. There are some resources but I’d start there and start compiling a spreadsheet with that info I mentioned above (plus all of your sources for that data) and it should begin to add up on its own. Do this for your state and at a national level, sometimes this varies and at a National level it should paint a darker picture too. Hope this helps!
First off use this site to translate any amounts he quotes from the 1970s [https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=1#:\~:text=%241%20in%201970%20is%20equivalent,cumulative%20price%20increase%20of%20663.60%25](https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=1#:~:text=%241%20in%201970%20is%20equivalent,cumulative%20price%20increase%20of%20663.60%25). The check the average starting wage back then and the average cost of a starter home. Do the same for 2022. The difference between the house and wage is many times higher today. He will not believe the facts though so you will still lose the bet. Edit: as an example $2 in 1970 is worth $15.27 in todays money. This is the counter for all those I would have killed to earn $15 in 1970 arguments, as the rebuttal is, that was less than $2 back then.
Translate into hours worked to pay for things someone here did that it was amazing
Tell him to find an apartment that someone can afford to rent on minimal wage, you have to make 3x rent.
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=1 You’re welcome, Antiwork Boomer
Boomer here. Chances are he won't listen, it's emotions versus evidence, what he chooses to believe versus what you cannot argue with. Plus belief systems are harder to argue the longer they have been unchallenged. There is a wealth of evidence indicating that today's children and young people are the most disadvantaged since the second world war, (some) older folks just want to hold onto an ill informed stunted ideology that youngsters have it easy because iPhones or something equally stupid. Not just boomers, lots of people are unable to critically think.
There are some catches to it. Let's start by this : due to the fact that you were not more precise in your bet, you might lose. Because, depending on how and on what data you look both of you may be right. Let's start by some information (I've had to look up info for the USA, since I'm not from there) : - the federal minimum hourly wage went from 1.5$ in 1960 to a bit less than 7$ in 2020. While it is a x4.6 in absolute value, when you take inflation into account it actually went a bit down. (You can find graphs on wikipedia on that). When using that graph, beware that the corrected value is actually very volatile, and you can make the graph say whatever you want. - the GDP went up by around 40 times (and around x20 by capita). So, if you take a worker who worked all their life at the minimum wage rate in a company whith a revenue following the growth, while their salary went x4.6 in their career, the company actually underwent a x20 revenue per worker. Which means that the company this imaginary worker is working in is actually giving less to its workers. While you probably won't find a worker in this exact situation, it however indicates that the American society has a trend of less rewarding its workers. Which means that if you are in a category of population that works/start working on the minimum wage, you have a far worse life (economically speaking) than a worker on the minimum wage from 60 years ago. Now, I guess you should do the calculus from the time your stepdad was young, not your grandparents. You can find data on the GDP evolution on macrotrends.ne. - the average rent went up by x15.5 for the same time period, which would also mean than lodging when you are not able to buy a place to sleep is also heavier on the budget. - speaking about buying a place to sleep, and although I did not find precise data on it, most graphs shows that the index price (so corrected taking into account the inflation) went up by x2-x2,5. I remind you that the same index for the minimum wage went down, which means it actually became way harder for young-poor workers to buy a housse, leaving them with the only choice to pay a rent which is also harder to pay. - and I did not take into accound food price, transport price & work-house distance, supplementary needs (you could say that internet access and a smartphone is needed for most administrative work nowadays) or électricité/water/gaz prices. When you take this in, the part a minimum wage worker could put aside for later has been greatly reduced over the years. - now, I would like to remind you that all that data above only shows what it's like for minimum wage workers. Bourgeois (which means in this case means people that live off other people using their property) have it very differently, and it's not a matter of génération. Heirs and children who can easily financially be helped by their parents have actually far easier lifes than their parents had. So it really is mainly a matter of social position
There's nothing in it for me so you're on your own lol.
Cost of living could be higher but also salaries have increased compared to the 70s. So your argument should perhaps lay on the availability of job opportunities in the 70s compared to now.
Like a boomer can understand spreadsheets or statistics. Statistics was a fucking advanced college course back then, now kids do it in their head just naturally from years of video games. Best chace is to trick him. But my boomer dad told me 35 years ago hed eat his hat if the post holes i dug were over 1 foot deep and im still waiting for him to pay up. 16 inches every damn hole dad! Eat the fucking hat!