20 bucks a day

August 27, 2006 3:48 PM

How much does $98 in 1948 dollars (US) equal in 2006 dollars?

That was the cost of a five-day hospital stay when my grandmother gave birth to my mother. More generally, is there any resource on the net that will translate "(x) many (year1) dollars" to "(y) many (year2) dollars"?

posted by Marla Singer to work & money (10 comments total)

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
posted by sanko at 3:50 PM on August 27, 2006 [2 favorites]

Awesome! Thank you, that's now bookmarked. For those who may be wondering, it comes out to $810.74, or $162.15 per day. (And my grandparents paid out of pocket.)
posted by Marla Singer at 3:57 PM on August 27, 2006

Also:

In 2005, $98.00 from 1948 is worth:

$794.89 using the Consumer Price Index
$674.51 using the GDP deflator
$1,417.26 using the unskilled wage
$2,237.97 using the nominal GDP per capita
$4,534.43 using the relative share of GDP
posted by takeyourmedicine at 3:59 PM on August 27, 2006

The more thorough answer is, of course, the more bewidering. But thank you, I've bookmarked that site as well.
posted by Marla Singer at 4:07 PM on August 27, 2006

Holy crap! That's a hell of thing to wrap your head around.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:08 PM on August 27, 2006

If you are wondering what the hospital stay would cost today, you'd want to use only the medical care series, like this, which is (336 [today's deflator] * $98 [dollars then]/14 [1948 deflator]) = $2,352. If you are wondering just what $98 is worth today, then it's closer to the income/wage series.
posted by milkrate at 6:56 PM on August 27, 2006

So the next logical question would be: How much does a five day hospital stay for a birth cost today? I am not a parent, but i'd guess it would be more than any of the numbers quoted here...
posted by iurodivii at 7:14 PM on August 27, 2006

Not to totally derail from the original query, but multiple-day hospital stays for uncomplicated births were normal in the 1940s. Today, a normal birth results in a 1-2 day stay; a C-section is 3-4 days typically.
posted by Bitstop at 7:23 PM on August 27, 2006

According to the inflation calculator:

What cost $98 in 1948 would cost $810.74 in 2005.

Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2005 and 1948, they would cost you $98 and $11.85 respectively.
posted by capcuervo at 7:26 PM on August 27, 2006

Did you not bother to read the first two comments?
posted by languagehat at 6:25 AM on August 28, 2006