Then & now

A hundred years in the history of the world isn't that long, but the last hundred years in America packed in huge change. Our lives are different in some interesting ways than lives were in 1915. The Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled some of those ways.

Here's a few of them:

• Life expectancy today 79 years, then 54 years
• A third of our population today is under 25 years, then half of the population
• 1% births are outside hospitals today, then 87%
• In today's dollars, the average full-time worker today makes $50k/year, then $16k
• Clothing today is just 3% of our budget, then 13%
• 85% of the population completes high school today, then 18%
• In 1915 the typical work week was 55+ hours

To sum up, we work less today but have much more than they did then. Why? Because the last century (overall) was full of innovation.  Wealth was created by capitalism. Today's culture is much wealthier and healthier - while working less.