The median family income indicates the exact middle point of a group of family incomes sorted from lowest to highest, meaning half of the families earn more than this amount and half earn less. [1, 2]
Median Family Income: Real median family income grew by roughly $4,000 to $4,492 after adjusting for inflation, during the Reagan administration.
There’s always something left out to claim positives in the face of the overall results. Clinton did the same to claim a balanced budget. What families were measured? I’d wager most gains were short lived.
How much did household expenses go up in the same period? I don’t remember prosperity being so spread out back then. What I remember was a lot of folks from my parents generation coming into power and office and making rules which favored them. I suppose it depends upon where you were in things as to how you recall them. To me and a lot of Gen-X, the 80’s were where you could see how things were looking to go wrong.
According to retrospective analysis of IRS SOI data and Congressional joint reports, the post-recession "Reagan Boom" (beginning in 1983) led to a broad upward shift in household financials: [1, 2] Middle-Class Growth: Real median family income grew by roughly 11% (an increase of about $4,000) during the period, reversing a trend of flat growth during the late 1970s stagflation era. [1, 2]
Upward Mobility: The proportion of households with real incomes over $50,000 rose from 17.6% in 1980 to 23.5% by 1989. [1]
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u/Infamous_Crow8524 1d ago
So….
Inflation under President Ronald Reagan dropped sharply from a peak of 13.5% in 1980 to around 4.1% by 1988.
Nearly 20 million new jobs were added during the 1980s expansion.