Middle Class Then, And Now

A simple ensemble in 1956 of Sears‘s lowest-priced women‘s clothing — blouse, jeans, pumps, panties and bra — cost the typical worker in 1956 5.2 hours of work time. A similar ensemble of clothing today costs the typical worker a mere 2.9 hours of work time. That is, such clothing is today 44 percent less costly, in terms of work time required to earn enough money to purchase it, than it was in 1956.