In the past few weeks I have been diving deeper into my family archives. In the process, I have come across a small handwritten note, a hand-drawn manuscript and other papers that belonged to my grandfather and great-grandfather. The papers are quite old and yellowed, but they are still there. One of the papers had some interesting details inside. It was a class-XII board examination result in 1985 and among various other things it stated the minimum salary package in 1986. This 1986 salary was very impressive to an 18-year-old!
The average American’s salary in 1986 was $22,327 and this amount is equivalent to $54,781.62 in 2018. The chart below shows the average salary in 1986 and 2018:
Average salary in 1986
It really was the golden age! Even in 1986 the average salary is more than not just the average salary of now, it is more than professors make and a lot more than admin assistants. And that does not include stock options, signing bonuses or other perks.
For the first half of the 1980s, the average salary in this industry remained stagnant. However, as you can see from 1986 onward, that trend began to change, and ushered in a period of much higher pay.
What was groundbreaking at the time is now considered insufficient, according to Glassdoor. In fact, the Glassdoor survey showed that job satisfaction has dropped over last year as well. After crunching all of the numbers, it looks like the years between 2012 and 2013 have been a lackluster one for current and prospective workers.
Overall, I feel that the information found and shared in this infographic is average. It lacks a different point of view to persuade the reader about saving money or some sort of motivation to take place in the saving habits that has already been presented. The initial idea and title of the infographic is cute, but the designer didn’t strive to create something more out of it, which is a bit sad to see.
