Figuring 1998 dollars in terms of 1988/89 dollars

Marta Russell ap888 at lafn.org
Fri Dec 4 20:23:08 PST 1998


John,

I'm in California. We've been stuck at minimum wage since the inception of the In Home Support Services program here. To get to $7.85 would be a hefty increase. The result of such poor wages is that attendants are becoming harder and in some cases impossible to find. There are some illegal immigrants who will work for that but if they get paid by the state, they have to have a valid SS no. Its is shame but some disabled people here have to get on advanced pay - the money comes to them - so they can hire someone with a "questionable" SS number which doesn't get too rigorously checked if the county is not paying them directly. It is really tough holding on to a good person for any length of time.

Meanwhile the state makes out like a bandit. They don't have to pay the $50,000 a year to warehouse a person in a nursing home and save by paying dirt cheap wages to workers.

Marta Russell

John B Kelly wrote:


> I received $7.85/hour in 1988/89 [not sure which] to pay my Medicaid
> funded helpers. Could someone tell me what that wage would be today,
> adjusted for inflation and all? Is there some easy conversion formula I
> could be pointed to?
> Thanx
> John Kelly
>
> [We're in a fight in Massachusetts to get a higher wage, which has been
> stuck since then.]



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