I think some of you are conflating inflation and price increases. Inflation is the decrease in the value of money. Price increases are increases in the cost of commodities. I know that sounds a little pedantic, but while inflation can cause price increases, so can other things (things like taxes or monopolies). If the cost of living were locked to inflation, then yes, you’d see a 33% increase in the value of minimum wage. As an example, a 2 bedroom house was around $3900 in 1938. If you made minimum wage, then a house costs about 4 years’ worth of labor. It’s harder to get stats like that today because it varies so much by region… but I live in a pretty low cost-of-living state, and the median cost of a 2 bedroom house here is around $240k. Minimum wage today will earn you about $15k annually, meaning a house now costs 16 years’ worth of labor.
I think some of you are conflating inflation and price increases. Inflation is the decrease in the value of money. Price increases are increases in the cost of commodities. I know that sounds a little pedantic, but while inflation can cause price increases, so can other things (things like taxes or monopolies). If the cost of living were locked to inflation, then yes, you’d see a 33% increase in the value of minimum wage. As an example, a 2 bedroom house was around $3900 in 1938. If you made minimum wage, then a house costs about 4 years’ worth of labor. It’s harder to get stats like that today because it varies so much by region… but I live in a pretty low cost-of-living state, and the median cost of a 2 bedroom house here is around $240k. Minimum wage today will earn you about $15k annually, meaning a house now costs 16 years’ worth of labor.