American men make 12.5 percent less than their fathers 30 years ago, report on mobility says

[nadinbrzezinski]

Source: AP -- San Diego Union-Tribune

American men make 12.5 percent less than their fathers 30 years ago, report on mobility says

ASSOCIATED PRESS

12:28 p.m.(PDT) May 25, 2007

WASHINGTON – The part of the American dream that says a man's children will be better off than he was, has become a dream, not reality, according to an analysis of Census data released Friday.

A generation ago, American men in their thirties had median annual incomes of about $40,000 compared with men of the same age who now make about $35,000 a year, adjusted for inflation.

That's a 12.5 percent drop between 1974 and 2004, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project. To be sure, household incomes rose during the same period although the main reason is because there are more full-time working women, a new report on the project said.

While income is not the only measure of economic mobility, the findings challenge the historical presumption that each successive generation will be wealthier, said John E. Morton, the report's co-author. “Today's data suggest that during a 30-year period of economic expansion, a rising tide did not lift all boats,” Morton said in a release accompanying the report, “Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?”


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070525-1228-economicmobility-report.html
Lets play connect dots shall well?

Who was president in 1980

Who brought us this CONSERVATIVE Revolution by busting unions among other things?

[Bozita]

1. Maybe GM could make and market a Hummer4 -- 12.5% smaller than a H3

Ye shall always have freepers amongst you. Sure to be 12.5% less affluent.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. LOL

There, we have to find hunmor anywhere we can

When I see the kids struggling... I have to wonder

[Bozita]

4. I wonder too. Professions going offshore. Even med/law

What to tell a kid? We have no more a clue than they do.

When I was a kid, (groan), there were a whole bunch of careers offering some degree of promise and fortune.

Those careers still exist. Elsewhere.

I'm thinking a lot of American universities should start offering more degrees in ... lawncare?

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. What you tell a kid is to build a global skill set

so if the jobs go to Koala Lampur he can follow

Sadly that is what you tell a kid


Did I mention teachng kids SEVERAL foreign languages?

[Quantess]

3. The cynic in me says:

Just watch, women will be blamed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. But, of course

[The Doctor.]

5. Somehow I think the indices are lacking...

When energy is so much more expensive... food costs, travel expenses... so in excess of inflation, how do these studies accomodate?

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. I think they indicate soemthing

and that something is... that yoru mean salaries are not what they used to be

[The Doctor.]

9. I'd phrase that, "Relative mean salaries",

Unless the methodology reflects otherwise.

[SoCalDem]

10. and their fathers could afford health care for their families.. new cars from time to time

financed for only 2-3 years..they had guaranteed defined benefit pensions with health care.. they could afford to buy a home, and actually pay it off at 50 or so.. they could afford to support their family on a single income (unless Mom wanted to work).. they could afford vacations.. they could afford college for their kids..

and then we have "now".. as in "none of the above"

[cgrindley]

11. So Boomers screwed Gen X? What a surprise.

Add a collapse in wages to global warming, the destruction of social security, globalization, corporate takeovers, outsourcing, offshoring, rightsizing, downsizing, etc. Boomers wrecked the economy, politics, global peace, and they're going to selfishly suck the health care system dry in a foolish attempt to put off the inevitability of death. Why are they doing this? What's never been adequately explained to me is why an entire generation of people would hate the future so much.

[SoCalDem]

14. Nope. "The Greatest Generation" took waaaay more than their share

and the boomers by their very size, were gouged to give the old folks extra..and were sold a bill of goods.. namely: "you will pay extra for your parents & grandparents and to PREPAY your own share".. Greedy government bastards (Reagan mainly) "borrowed" all out prepayment money..

and even though we have been gouged since we entered the workforce, we bought first houses at 15-16% interest, we are paying for your college at highly inflated rates, our health care costs/insurance are prohibitive, we are being outsourced / downsized at the very time we are desperately trying to recoup a bit and many boomers are taking care of aged (often handicapped) parents, adult children and THEIR children who cannot afford to move out..

It is no bed of roses being a boomer..

But hey.. look on the bright side.. Many of us will probably die much younger than our parents did, so chin up.. you young' uns will have the whole sinking boat all to yourselves soon enough :)

[cgrindley]

18. At least the great generation defeated Hitler

and put a man on the moon. But what have the Boomers ever given us?

[SoCalDem]

20. Since the generation ahead of the Boomers hung around so long

Boomers have not been "in charge" of much at all:)

Look at the "captains of Industry".. there are a TON of "geezers" still running things :)

If you do not own the orchestra, someone else picks the tunes :)

check the ages of incoming CEOs (pg 2 ) ..pdf file
http://content.spencerstuart.com/sswebsite/pdf/lib/2006_Q1-4_CEO_Turnover_Summary_and_spread__PDF.pdf

In many cases Boomer aged people are JUST now starting to move up to "boss" positions.

[Solo_in_MD]

22. Serious generational conflict is coming

the younger people are seeing social security etc as wealth transfer from poorer people (themselves) to wealthier people (the elderly). A blowup is coming

[SoCalDem]

24. And to think that we (Boomers) just accepted it as the

natural thing to so.. take care of our grandparents & parents and stash extra away for ourselves.. a generational promise..like it was intended to be..

[Solo_in_MD]

25. Its still transfer payments from the poor to the rich

The families in their thirties are paying for housing, kids, and later college. The resentment is natural and growing

[HockeyMom]

12. Unions

My Dad was a Union member (ILA). Apart from his wages with that ($40,000 in 1983), the benefits were unbelievable by today's standards. The Union had an entire clinic they build in NYC for the men and their families. The clinic was totally self contained with doctors (including specialists), dentists, optometrists, xray technicians, pharmacists, etc. It all was funded through Union dues and we didn't pay a dime for anything when we went there.

Add all this to their salaries and what would that be?

[madrchsod]

13. 1977 i was making over 400 a week

without over time. union,cost of living,100% paid insurance. 1978-9 was the last year of the blue collar middle class in america. we have never made the same about of adjusted income since..

look across america and you`ll see hundreds of thousands of buildings that once gave america it`s greatness. now we are beggars

[liberal renegade]

15. Blame it all on Raygun......

[indepat]

16. Ain't it wonderful what 26 year of 'puke presidents in last 38 year has wrought: sadly

tens of millions of those whose American dream has been smashed support the MFers.

[progressoid]

17. Yep.

That would be me, complete with highter taxes and no health insurance.

[1932]

19. Forget income. Let's compare net worth. People saved money back then.

Today, everyone is in heavy debt.

So not only are Americans in the middle and at the bottom making less, they're in debt slavery too.

[many a good man]

21. Excellent report

Get it here: http://www.economicmobility.org/assets/pdfs/EMP%20American%20Dream%20Report.pdf%20

1974 was the watershed year - it's been all downhill from there for the middle class. Many excellent graphs. This one is most prescient, imo:

[treestar]

23. They also own 300% more crap

Maybe their wives make up the shortfall?

[porkrind]

26. This article is a disappointment

If they did a minimum of research, they wouldn't have used government/establishment numbers for inflation. REAL inflation is running 8% or more per year, and has been for years. Not the measly 3% they try to tell us. Anyone who tries to run a household intuitively knows this. Why do you think the price of commodities such as oil, natural gas, steel, food, etc. are rising like crazy? Why has the price of gold risen like crazy? The answer is **Monetary Inflation**. The government CPI numbers are crap, and they know it. The reason is that they have a strong bias to keep it low because welfare and social security payments are tied to this number. If they lie about it, they can pay much less to recipients.

The price of oil, food, real estate, etc. priced in ounces of gold has been much more stable. This monetary inflation is basically the government printing money out of thin air to pay for their projects. This makes the money supply larger so it dilutes each one of your saved dollars in the bank. This is shown by the M3 number the FED wants to hide from us. It's the government stealing from you. This way, they don't have to raise taxes, which is always unpopular. They print their own money and steal from you instead.

If the author of this article did their homework, that 12% number would be much higher. I would guess at least 50%, and maybe more.

[helderheid]

27. but still more than their American women counterparts. n/t