LogFAQs > #980009589

Yeah, I was born in the 80's, and that's definitely not 20 USD worth of groceries in 1980. 1950's is more like it.

""How much did a can of Coke cost in 1980? In the early 1980's A 16 oz glass bottle was 25 cents. ""
Probably hard to realize they were THAT cheap back then huh?
Yes.
Seeing how a bottle of Soda can cost $2 today

1,50 to 2 USD is about what the average 2-liter cost in the late 90's. The OP, even if it WERE accurate, raw price/inflationary differences are an utter moot point anyway since the important factor is median income relative to inflation.

For example, in 2015, the median income was around 60k, while the median income in 1994, adjusted for 2015's inflation, was 88k. In addition, bear in mind that the cost of healthcare and secondary education have risen far in excess of inflation. IOW, adjusted for inflation, not only are Americans making far less than they used to, but they have far less purchasing power.

This rule goes for foreign countries as well in discussions about human rights. The equivalent of a $10 USD fine for littering in India might not sound that bad to westerners, but the ruble is far weaker than the dollar, and in reality 10 USD is more than what some Indian citizens make in a year. In order to determine the actual cost/justness of such a fine, you would first need to determine what the median income is, and what the lowest income bracket tends to be.

ssjevot posted...

This is objectively wrong as well. The richer and more educated a population becomes the lower the fertility rate. This is true across the world. Additionally even today in America the people with the lowest incomes have the highest fertility rates. You are someone interested in pushing an agenda pretending to be interested in facts.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/241530/birth-rate-by-family-income-in-the-us/

I'd like to remind everyone that there is a difference between a population's fertility rate and the natural population change.

The former is based on the number of children per woman or couple in an area. The latter is the number of deaths vs births in a community.
Non-farming rural areas in the rust and coal belts will have average national white fertility rates, but the natural population change will be deep into the negative since most of the young people raised in these communities will move to the suburbs or cities (or to rural areas that aren't in decline) while the remaining population consists of middle-aged and elderly residents who are past their fertile years.