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0 pointsmcv2y ago0 comments

It's probably a combination. Of course our standard of living has gone up, but so has wealth inequality.

And in a way, we're actually working more. Back in the 70s, a single income was enough to maintain a family with a house and kids and everything. These days, it's common for both parents to work, and yet we're not all twice as rich. Most of that extra money is eaten up by higher housing costs, which often depend on what people can afford to pay for the house they need, and with double income, we can afford to pay twice as much, so housing prices have gone through the roof.

I suspect we shouldn't have gone from one parent working fulltime to two parents working fulltime, but to two parents working part time. I've got a feeling we may have accidentally ruined this for ourselves.

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ernst_klim2y ago

> These days, it's common for both parents to work, and yet we're not all twice as rich. Most of that extra money is eaten up by higher housing costs

What was the average home size in 1970? What is the average home size today? Internet says that median house size in US went from 500sq feet to 907 sq feet. So yes, the consumption standards had risen significantly.

> These days, it's common for both parents to work

Can't say for US, but in EU these days it's common for parents to travel. It's common for parents to go on a massage or SPA on the weekends. It's common for parents to do sport, buy a bicycle etc. And I'm talking about regular blue collar peps.

My parents didn't do all that. They lived a much more humble life than most parents today. Also my mother did a shitload of manual work, she washed all the clothes manually, she did cleaning mostly manually, she fixed clothes with her own hands manually. How many times in the past ten years had you fixed your clothes with sewing?

So this "one parent was working" meant basically "another parent is doing a shitload of manual labor at home (because absent/more expensive goods and services) and they overall live a pretty humble life by today standards even adjusted for better services".

If you reduce your living standards to 1970s median, you can easily rise your kids with a single working parent. But neither you, nor your spouse and kids will like that standards of living.

mcvOP2y ago

That's true. Well, we also did sports and had bikes in the 1970s, but I think people definitely have more luxurious vacations than we used to. Back then, my family always went camping for three weeks in a tent. These days, we go on much more expensive vacations abroad. More people go by plane, too.

> What was the average home size in 1970? What is the average home size today?

The home I grew up in was larger than the house I raise my kids in. Lots of older houses weren't all that small, and plenty of new ones aren't that big, but they all got a lot more expensive.

> How many times in the past ten years had you fixed your clothes with sewing?

I always want to, but never get around to it. This lack of repair has definitely contributed to the disposability of our stuff.

> So this "one parent was working" meant basically "another parent is doing a shitload of manual labor at home

But we still have chores at home. Only now we have to do them outside working hours. Although I do quite a bit on my free wednesdays.

> If you reduce your living standards to 1970s median, you can easily rise your kids with a single working parent.

I have friends who do. But the thing they mostly cut their expenses on is still their house: they live in an old, poorly insulated house in the middle of nowhere that still needs a lot of work.

Sai_2y ago

I think the feeling of not being twice as rich despite twice the income is a function of job insecurity and an awareness as we age that everything is a sham/game, no one knows anything, and everything could be taken away at any moment.

When you know for sure that you will have a job tomorrow, you’re more likely to sit back, reflect on, and savor your wealth.

On the other hand, knowing that people like you are getting fired at-will, unconscious fear sets in that the next time the music stops, you’ll be the one without a seat.

This feeling of not being able to control one’s destiny is what prevents us from enjoying our money sitting in the bank.

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