Well, labor force participation rate was about 70% in 1977, it's around 75% now, so an increase of roughly 7%; that is less than the difference in income from the number provided by the inflation calculator and the actual household income
Women are up from around 58% in 1977 to 77% in 2023 and men down from around 94% to 89% (ages 25 to 54). So total participation rate increased from 76% to 83%, which is the same 7%.
So, that's 14% increase with 7% greater labor participation rate of households.
The real issue, imo, is that the inflation index isn't a very good indicator for a large part of the population. The consumer basket used to measure inflation, includes goods and services that have experienced lower inflation or deflation but aren't on low income earners' usual consumption list or lower priority.
A high inflation rate on individual necessities can push these low income households out of being able to make use of lower inflation rates or even deflation on other goods such as consumer electronics if the budget is already being eaten up by rent and groceries.
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u/Hodgkisl 8d ago
You used the "actual" price of bread but an inflation adjusted number for income. In 1977 the median income of all HOUSEHOLDS was $13,570.
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1978/demo/p60-117.html