However, what these forum members forget to account for is the rise in wages during the same time span.
Nominal wages have been constantly increasing. Real wages, i.e. wages adjusted for inflation, have not. Observe below the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (click for full size)Care to explain how you arrived at that conclusion from these data?
The average American has never had a higher real wage than that which they had in 1973, despite their nominal wage increasing from $4 to $24. That's two entire generations so far (Gen X and Millennials) with lower wages than their parents/grandparents (Baby boomers). The trend isn't exactly likely to reverse for Gen Z
Well, I have different data, which actually shows the change in inflation-adjusted wages over time. It is based on the Social Security Administration wage statistics (link):
As you can see, real annual earnings in 2012 dollars were outperforming inflation till 2007