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by malvosenior 2495 days ago
From the Wikipedia article:

"According to the CBO, between 1979 and 2011, gross median household income, adjusted for inflation, rose from $59,400 to $75,200, or 26.5%.[18] However, once adjusted for household size and looking at taxes from an after-tax perspective, real median household income grew 46%, representing significant growth."
3 comments
mdorazio 2494 days ago
Are you actually trying to use a time series starting before Millennials were even born to try to prove a point about financial situations today? On top of trying to apply median household numbers at the national level to a single cohort? Please stop. Look at actual data like [1]. Or at least look at the whole picture like [2] instead of cherry picking income data and acting like you can just stop there.

[1] https://news.stanford.edu/2016/12/08/todays-children-face-to...

[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/11/millennials-households-earn-...

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bwoj 2494 days ago
Also things like: "U.S. economic growth is not translating into higher median family incomes. Real GDP per household has typically increased since the year 2000, while real median income per household was below 1999 levels until 2016, indicating a trend of greater income inequality"

And: "Total compensation's share of GDP has declined by 4.5 percentage points from 1970 to 2016. This implies that the share attributed to capital increased in that period."

Also: "Measured relative to GDP, total compensation and its component wages and salaries have been declining since 1970. This indicates a shift in income from labor (persons who derive income from hourly wages and salaries) to capital (persons who derive income via ownership of businesses, land and assets). This trend is common across the developed world, due in part to globalization.[16] Wages and salaries have fallen from approximately 51% GDP in 1970 to 43% GDP in 2013. Total compensation has fallen from approximately 58% GDP in 1970 to 53% GDP in 2013"

The whole picture here is a pretty mixed bag and not at all a case for how median wage to the average worker is phenomenal.

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malvosenior 2494 days ago
As I said, inequality is up hence the lower portion of GDP going to labor. Overall, labor is making more than they were before though.
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entropea 2494 days ago
What factors are causing that rise? More people living at home? More roommates to lower enormous housing costs?
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bwoj 2494 days ago
Since 1979 probably the biggest driver to increasing household income would be increased participation of women in the workforce.
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