In 1974 you could buy a Quarter Pounder with Cheese at McDonalds for 70 cents. The national minimum wage in the United States in 1974 was $2.00 an hour.
In 2023 you can buy a Quarter Pounder with Cheese for $4.29 up to $7.09 (give or take, depending on what State you live in). The average price is $5.34. In 2023 the national minimum wage is $7.25.
Using the average Quarter Pounder with Cheese price, that means the price of the sandwich increased 664% between 1974 and 2003. (The full range is between 512% to 912%).
The National Minimum Wage increase from $2.00 to $7.25 is only a rise of 262%.
This bare bones in a nutshell example gives us a good insight into the cost-of-living crisis. It is not a new crisis. It is not a recent thing. It has been going on all of our lives, we were just too distracted to see it.
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