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Do we even trust our leaders to help?
Retiring old ideas about retirement
Social Security more solvent than most Americans realize
Focus group participants discuss retirement
Series looks at middle-class angst
Insurance misery has no easy cure
Health-care matchup finds Ohio falls short
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Angel Food Ministries helps stretch grocery dollars
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 13-47
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Published on Sunday, Sep 30, 2007
Wage and salary figures used in this project were produced by Beacon Journal reporter David Knox as part of a Kiplinger fellowship at Ohio State University's John Glenn School of Public Affairs.
The numbers were drawn from Census Bureau data prepared by the University of Minnesota's Population Center in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.
Unlike the familiar census tables that add up people and households grouped by gender, race, income and numerous other categories, microdata are the answers given by individuals on the census ''long-form'' questionnaires, stripped of names, addresses and other information to prevent identification.
The advantage of microdata is that the raw records can be grouped in new ways.
To track how wages have changed over years for successive generations of workers, the Beacon Journal study examined microdata covering more than five decades, from the 1950 census to the 2005 American Community Survey.
While the number of records was large 51 million the analysis was simple: After adjusting for inflation to 2006 dollars, the annual wages were sorted to determine the median, or midpoint earnings, for workers in five-year age groups and also by gender, race and level of education. Only those who reported working at least 40 weeks in the year were included.
Workers' earnings then were grouped by year of birth into four 20-year generations: GI Generation, born 1905-24; Depression kids, 1925-44; baby boomers, 1945-64; and Generation X, 1965-84.
Such detailed breakdowns are possible because of the huge number of records. And more records mean smaller error margins.
For example, the Beacon Journal study found that the median income in 2005 for women ages 30-34, with a four-year college degree, was $42,083. According to census researchers, the margin of error is $510, or 1.2 percent. In contrast, pre-election polls often have error margins of 3 percent or more.
Knox, a 58-year-old baby boomer, joined the staff of the Beacon Journal in 1991 and has been the newsroom's specialist in computer-assisted reporting since 1999. A Medina resident, he is a graduate of John Carroll University.
Wage and salary figures used in this project were produced by Beacon Journal reporter David Knox as part of a Kiplinger fellowship at Ohio State University's John Glenn School of Public Affairs.
The numbers were drawn from Census Bureau data prepared by the University of Minnesota's Population Center in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.
Unlike the familiar census tables that add up people and households grouped by gender, race, income and numerous other categories, microdata are the answers given by individuals on the census ''long-form'' questionnaires, stripped of names, addresses and other information to prevent identification.
The advantage of microdata is that the raw records can be grouped in new ways.
To track how wages have changed over years for successive generations of workers, the Beacon Journal study examined microdata covering more than five decades, from the 1950 census to the 2005 American Community Survey.
While the number of records was large 51 million the analysis was simple: After adjusting for inflation to 2006 dollars, the annual wages were sorted to determine the median, or midpoint earnings, for workers in five-year age groups and also by gender, race and level of education. Only those who reported working at least 40 weeks in the year were included.
Workers' earnings then were grouped by year of birth into four 20-year generations: GI Generation, born 1905-24; Depression kids, 1925-44; baby boomers, 1945-64; and Generation X, 1965-84.
Such detailed breakdowns are possible because of the huge number of records. And more records mean smaller error margins.
For example, the Beacon Journal study found that the median income in 2005 for women ages 30-34, with a four-year college degree, was $42,083. According to census researchers, the margin of error is $510, or 1.2 percent. In contrast, pre-election polls often have error margins of 3 percent or more.
Knox, a 58-year-old baby boomer, joined the staff of the Beacon Journal in 1991 and has been the newsroom's specialist in computer-assisted reporting since 1999. A Medina resident, he is a graduate of John Carroll University.
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