THE FOLLOWING STATS ARE FROM THE NEW YORK POST OF TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2006 ENTITLED "CITY SLICKER COLLEGE GRADS"
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INCOMES
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GRADUATE/PROFESSION DEGREE: $ 55,065
BACHELOR'S DEGREE: $ 42,404
SOME COLLEGE, ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE: $ 30,891
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE (INCLUDES GED): $ 25, 360
HIGH SCHOOL (DROPOUT): $18,144
:::NATIONAL:::: $31,132
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NOW LET US COMPARE THIS WITH MY 1957 WORLD ALMANAC "MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION WORKERS STATISTICS" for an idea of what was going on from 1945 to October 1973:
YEAR..... AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS ... AVERAGE WEEKLY HOURS ... AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS
1943 $43.14..... 44.9..... $0.961
1944... 46.08... 45.2.... 1.019...
1945.... 44.39.... 43.4.... 1.023....
1946..... 43.82.... 40.4..... 1.086....
1947.... 49.97.... 40.4..... 1.237.....
1948..... 54.14..... 40.1..... 1.350.....
1949.... 54.92..... 39.2..... 1.401.....
1950..... 59.33..... 40.5..... 1.465.....
1951..... 64.71..... 40.7..... 1.59.....
1952..... 67.97..... 40.7..... 1.67.....
1953..... 71.69..... 4.07..... 1.67.....
1954..... 71.86..... 39.7..... 1.81.....
1955..... 76.52..... 40.7..... 1.88.....
1956 Jan...... 78.55...... 40.7..... 1.93.....
1956 Feb..... $78.17/week..... 40.5 hours ..... $1.93/hour.....
1956 Mar..... $78.78/week ..... 40.4 hours ..... $1.95/hour.....
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NOW LET US MULTIPLY THAT MARCH 1956 WORKING CLASS PAYCHECK TO SEE HOW MUCH THAT IS IN ONE YEAR! BY MULTIPLYING BY 52 WEEKS WE GET: $78.78 times 52= $4,047 a year.
But the actual inflation rate since 1956 is AT LEAST TEN TIMES. More like 11 or 12. (candy bars were big and sold for a nickle, comic books were thick and sold for a silver dime, coffee was 10 cents, newspapers were 4 or 5 cents, a NYC subway ride had just gone up from 10c to 15c )
So that means that the $4,047 is at least $40,470!
NOW COMPARE $40,470 to the education chart for 2006 above!!! It is just slightly lower than a bachelor's degree in college!!!!
And add this: One did not have to go into terrible college loan debt to reach that level AND the men worked during those four years so they had earned $40,000 during those years while todays collge grads are OWING $40,000. That is an $80,000 head start. AND the deduction out of one's pay were much less so workers took more money home. AND these were just the AVERAGE factories. If you worked as a common laborer in steel or autos or a place like Caterpiller you made much more and many were on the waiting list for those places while getting their average. AND sales taxes were much lower so you could buy more with your paycheck. AND there was much more paid vacation time. AND medical bills were much lower then. One did not get these huge bills we get now. The doc came to your house, took care of people, and you got a small bill!
NOTE THAT these workers dropped out of school because of the GREAT DEPRESSION and the SECOND WORLD WAR. My parents had to drop out in 6th and 9th grades. But the factories did not care about that. Factory jobs did not need Elementary School Diplomas to pay you at a MIDDLE CLASS level, much less have a college degree.
NOTE ALSO THAT EVER SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL BASE OF AMERICA WAS DESTROYED THE ALMANACS NO LONGER GIVE ECONOMICS SECTIONS WHICH HAD THE HONEST STATS FOR JOB INCOME, INFLATION, AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATE!!! They don't give any at all, not even the modern crooked rates where the government finds reasons to make things look better than we all know they are. (Nowadays they leave out of the equation what ever it takes to make it look better than it is. If oil goes up, it is left out. If food, it is left out.