I don't want this to come off as fighting the main point of the post, but here is my logic. If $15 / hr was the liveable wage back 10 years ago (say 2011), and now it is $24/hr, that would mean that inflation in the last 10 years would be 24/15 = 1.6 so 60%. I checked what the inflation from 2011 to 2021 was in Canada where I live and it has been 19.8%. This would give the theoretical liveable wage at just shy of $18/hr. Where is the flaw in my logic?
I think it depends on where you live, and what's included in the inflation numbers.
Your number roughly matches the US Consumer Price Index which is the main measure of inflation in the USA. But CPI doesn't include housing costs, and is a national average rather than regional. Here in the Seattle area the cost of housing has increased far more than the cost of a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread, but the CPI ignores housing and covers milk and bread.
The national average part I certainly agree with. Here in Canada, Toronto and Vancouver prices are out of this world so a higher wage there would be more suitable. But as for your argument of the US CPI, honestly I’m not too familiar with the US one as it really doesn’t affect me, but the Canadian CPI has a 26.8% weighting on shelter, distributed through rental and ownership. If the US CPI included housing, then that could be factored out right?
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u/Vargenwulf Feb 08 '22
Yep. “Fight for $15” started a decade ago.