Rev. John Eaton: Wages paint other half of picture of gasoline cost

To The Daily Sun,

Soaring prices at the pump paint only half the picture of gasoline's real cost. Wages paint the other half.

In the early 1960s I worked part-time in a service station. I earned 60 cents per hour, a common wage for a high school student. We sold gas for 33 cents per gallon. That was a half hour's wage plus 10%. Today most students are paid at least $12 per hour. Half of that plus 10% is $6.60. When compared with an entry level wage, gas today would have to cost more than $6.60 per gallon to be as expensive as it was 60 years ago. For someone earning $16 per hour the gas price would have to exceed $8.80 per gallon.

We may yet get to the $6.60 price, but for now gasoline is nowhere as expensive as the pump price alone implies.

Rev. John Eaton

Meredith