[dlbucci]

Or, you know, have a Cost of Living/Inflation adjustment every year. That's such a simple idea to me and it's sort of insane to me that not only is that not something that happens, but no one seems to be even suggesting it (or at least, no politicians are campaigning on it). Hell, adjusting the 70's minimum wage to today's dollars puts it at like $24, so just hearing that, I don't know how it shouldn't be around there today, but people talk about $15 like it's crazy.

[metaphor]

> Hell, adjusting the 70's minimum wage to today's dollars puts it at like $24...

Bullshit...the unqualified assertion doesn't even pass a ballpark sniff test using Department of Labor's historical federal minimum wage rates[1] and Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI inflation calculator[2] against Feb 2022 buying power.

  | Eff Date | Rate | Today |
  |----------|------|-------|
  | Jan 1970 | 1.60 | 12.01 |
  | May 1974 | 2.00 | 11.68 |
  | Jan 1975 | 2.10 | 11.44 |
  | Jan 1976 | 2.30 | 11.74 |
  | Jan 1978 | 2.65 | 12.03 |
  | Jan 1979 | 2.90 | 12.05 |

[1] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history/chart

[2] https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

[sjmm1989]

Um, actually... You're in for a bad time mate: ($1.00 = $7.31) https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=1

Even at a 100 year range it comes out to: ($1.00 = $16.89) https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1922?amount=1

BUT, these numbers may not yet be taking into full account some of the most recent upticks in inflation. SO, there may be some room for error yet. But $24... sorry pal, but nope. Not quite there yet.

And for the Canadians out there: It's pretty much the same deal. I think last I checked, it was at $15.65 for 1$ @ 100 years range.

[frumper]

Maybe a source? I was curious and using federal minimum wages from either 1970($1.45/hr) or 1979($2.90/hr) would yield less than $12/hr. I know you can contest how inflation is calculated, or use shadow stats, but then you're getting into murky waters. The official numbers are no where near the claim of $24/hr though.

[astrange]

Australia's minimum wage actually is around 21USD/hour, but it helps to be a petro state.

(It's usually written $15 an hour, but IMO you should count casual loading to compare to the US.)

[jandrewrogers]

That math doesn't work out. $24/hr is roughly the average (not median) US wage today. $15/hr is close to the median US wage. Making that work would imply extreme wage compression for everyone regardless of occupation or skill.