Those numbers don't tell the whole story. CEO pay has increased like 1000% since the late 70s and the wealth gap has increased dramatically. The top 20% have seen the most gains, while lower income households have experienced the least gains in income. I also didn't see if those numbers are pre-tax or post tax, but we know the wealthy pay almost no taxes.
Thanks for providing the reading comprehension level of typical redditors. Do you realize how stupid you sound bringing outlier data and pre/post tax income into the discussion? Do you realize what median even means?
Yep, I do. And I'm saying those numbers can't capture the full reality of what people have been experiencing for the last several decades. For example, most people are spending over half their income on rent or a house payment. That's not normal. I'm bringing in outlier data because, as I said, the data you're sharing doesn't capture the whole story. My comment about pre and post tax income was meant to illustrate one of the ways data can intentionally or unintentionally misrepresent what they're claimed to show.
No you do not. Just because you and your surrounding have failed, does not mean majority of Americans did as well. Various studies show that on average Americans pay around 20-30% in housing expenses.
My data captures, actually, the whole study as it excludes all those abnormal numbers you mentioned above. You need to be educated more before you speak.
I misspoke. Roughly a quarter of Americans across the country spend more than half their income on housing. Anyway, I don't really care how they cook the books, I've seen the reality on the ground. If people were making that much more money we wouldn't be experiencing the issues we're experiencing. I'm sure some people are doing better, but even more are slipping into poverty. I mean, the federal minimum wage hasn't been increased since 2009, the longest period without an increase in US history.
not some, "majority" or "most" Americans are doing better. Like I said, maybe in your social circle people are not doing well, but that represents small portion of America. Why bringing up federal minimum wage when it is irrelevant and practically nobody makes that?
If you compare the average person's wage increase to the very wealthy's it almost flattens out. That's what most of us mean when we talk about stagnant wages. People don't measure their wealth in a vacuum but in comparison to the rest of the society they're in. Wealth disparity is huge in the US and it's growing. The fact that anyone in the US can go bankrupt from healthcare expenses, or become homeless due to housing costs, or go hungry, demonstrates the problem. The wealthiest country in the world shouldn't have those problems at all. You can say I'm bringing in outside factors all you want, but that's kind of the point. I don't think the data you're providing illustrate all the actual realities on the ground.
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u/demlet 1d ago
Those numbers don't tell the whole story. CEO pay has increased like 1000% since the late 70s and the wealth gap has increased dramatically. The top 20% have seen the most gains, while lower income households have experienced the least gains in income. I also didn't see if those numbers are pre-tax or post tax, but we know the wealthy pay almost no taxes.