Anonymous73 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Old Dude Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > My first 'real job' was washing dishes for
> minimum
> > wage ($1.35/hr if I remember right) at the old
> S&W
> > cafeteria at Landmark as soon as I was old
> enough
> > (15-ish) to get a work permit.
>
> Minimum wage in 1967 was $1.40, in 2013 dollars
> that's $9.95, 37% higher than today's minimum wage
> of $7.25.
This would have been ~1973 - 1974. As I recall, VA didn't follow Federal minimum wage guidelines (the $1.40 number) until after that. There also may have been some subcategories of labor that had different rates (full- vs part-time, youth employment rates, food service, etc.). I don't recall all of the details now and Google wasn't much help on a quick search, but I'm pretty sure that number is right for me at the time however all of that worked out.
Using the Fed's CPI calculator shows $1.35 in 1974 dollars = $6.31.
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1.35&year1=1974&year2=2013
Your $1.40 number is roughly correct for 1967 dollars (I get $9.65 using the above) but, since both minimum wage and inflation have varied across given year-ranges, it's cherry picking to some extent since 1968 was a relative high point for minimum wage versus COL/inflation (the highest point since the 1930s).
In any case, none of that changes the point that minimum wage isn't really intended to support a family of 5 along with a higher basis for what's considered and acceptable standard of living that exists now more generally.