Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Ann Fields
To the Editor:
I heard one older lady say, “We fed our kids. Why can’t people feed their kids today?”
I thought about that and did some research. Wages are up, but prices are up, too. I decided to compare 1975 purchasing power to today’s purchasing power.
Purchasing power is measured by the Consumer Price Index, which is the price of a basket of similar goods that has been tracked over time. What $1 bought in 1975, now sells for roughly $6.02. If a family made $10,000 in 1975, that same family needs over $60,000 to buy the same goods.
Minimum wage in 1975 was $2.10/hour. In order to buy the same goods today, one would need $12.60/hour, but today’s minimum wage is $7.25. This means that someone living on minimum wage today can only buy 58% of what someone living on minimum wage in 1975 could buy.
Another way to compare 1975 and today is looking at average incomes. The average income in 1975 was $13,720. Today’s average income is $55,377. To have the same purchasing power, the income should be $71,000. Average income earners today can purchase only 78% of what average income earners could purchase in 1975.
How about hourly wage comparison, which excludes salaries of higher income earners? The average hourly wage in 1975 was $6.60; the average wage in 2023 was $20.50. To have the same purchasing power that hourly wage earners had in 1975, wage earners today would need $39.50. So, average hourly wage earners today only have 52% of purchasing power that average wage earners had in 1975.
The answer to that lady who could feed her kids in 1975 is that average earners today have less purchasing power and cannot afford the same goods. It seems that many families today have to choose between gas for their cars, heat for their homes, and food for their kids.
Count yourself lucky if you raised your kids in 1975, but don’t disparage families today who are struggling. You would be struggling today, too, due to less purchasing power and the high cost of living.
Ann Fields
Lansing
