Check out this illustrated comparison from traditional women’s magazine Woman’s Day charting the increase in women’s incomes over the last 50 years.

In the 1950s, the average woman earned 14k a year, had a 983 square foot house and craftsman or labourer spouse. Now, the average is 29k, with a post-high school education and a 2349 square foot house. 15k is not actually a huge improvement.

Evolution of the Household

Photo-collage produced by Women’s Day magazine. (Staff (WD))

All these numbers are adjusted for inflation, so in 1950 eggs did not actually cost $5, but by today’s standards that’s what we would be paying for them. It’s a bit confusing, but the idea is that while median incomes appear to have gone up, the cost of goods, services and a bunch of other stuff has gone way down. Welcome to the free market, my friends.

So if people are getting paid so much more now, and nobody is a labourer, then who is responsible for producing our hella cheap goods and services? Answer: cheap foreign labour + factory farming + destabilized jobs at home = cheaper goods and services with a corresponding lack of security for all workers, everywhere in the world.

Luckily the TV is on 24/7 so nobody is noticing that their quality of life is going down, even though the sales are awesome.