FuriousAvatar

Life is harder now, some experts say

It's a long article, so it might be best to simply follow the link. Basically, the article compares today's middle-class population to past years' in order to determine whether it is indeed harder to live in today's America. A few key quotes:

I live in Alaska of all places, and I know for a fact that housing costs have risen. It has been a struggle finding affordable apartments, and I can only imagine actually owning a home and paying off a mortgage is even more expensive. I do my best to save on money (thankfully we have a Costco and now a Wal Mart), but it can be tight sometimes.

So what do you think? Were middle-class families better off, financially, in the '70s?

Ustwo

When I look at how our grandparents (or perhaps your great grandparents) managed families of 5+ in homes with 1 bathroom, I look at such articles with nothing but amusement.

Stop paying for cable, cell phones, internet, cut out the extra-curricular activities for kids, make them get summer jobs, live in a smaller house with one car, cut out most air conditioning, and you too can live in the golden age of the early 70's.

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squeeeb

it's not harder now, not at all. driving your escalade or hummer to work is way easier than my when my grandmother had to walk to work, or my aunt had to take a bus or be driven cause they only had 1 car. sitting at a desk with a computer is a lot easier than working in a mine, working on a bridge, working two jobs like both my father and mother did. it's not harder, we have become a bit lazier, we expect to make more money for less actual exertion. we expect to graduate college and have a car and fully furnished apartment with the PS3, super bad ass sound system, and go out every night and have our daily $4.00 orange mocha half caf frappucino. by today's "i want to work less, make more, and have it all" standards, yeah, it's harder. by the old day's "i have to work very hard, have very little, and be happy with what little i have" today's living is pretty damn cush....

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Baraka_Guru

There's a lot of truth in that, but things aren't the same anymore. There are more demands on education and other social expectations that simply cost more money. For many people, jobs require home Internet access and cell phones. Also, depending on where you work and where you live, you might need two cars to get to work. For example, we live midtown, Baraka_Gurl works in a neighbouring city and I work downtown. For this reason, she drives a car to work and I pay for a metropass to ride public transit.

There are two things at play: Things are more expensive, yet we are wasting a lot of money on needless things (and using high-interest credit to do it). I think you are right to say we could be living much better than we are, but I don't know if we could match the 70s.

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Shauk

all i know is that if you deliver to someone who is "stuck" mentally in thier 70's mode, they still tip as if a dollar is a good thing. /facepalm

so glad i'm leaving that pointless job.

but anyway, I've noticed its just relative to what you make regardless. People tend to want to live a better life before they have the means to provide for that. hell if I get a really good job i'd be ok driving a 20 year old car, living in a studio apt, living on ramen and trying to avoid driving by taking public transit. You can maximize your income by changing your lifestyle. I don't live offa 800$ a month acting like I make 800$ a month (and i'm not joking, I seriously make that little)

FuriousAvatar

I urge you to read the full article if you haven't already. Perhaps I should have been more specific in my question: Is it more expensive to live now? Yes, we certainly do have many new luxuries these days and we don't need them all, but I meant to focus on the necessities of life, housing, food, all that good stuff.

Ustwo

I just looked at the numbers.

If you cut out the wife working, they add up to about the same.

So the moral of the story is women shouldn't' work

That gets rid of day care, pre-school, second car, plus I'll assume it lowers your tax bracket.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

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Baraka_Guru

...or men....

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

snowy

Look at how healthcare costs have risen. When I was a kid, you could still get a doctor's visit without health insurance for $20. Now, a lot of doctors won't see you if you're uninsured. It's $120 for a 15-minute visit if you do get in. If you have to go to urgent care, that's a $150 expense out of pocket.

Most of the research I've read regarding cost of living suggests that women are in a particularly difficult double-bind: they have to work to support the middle class lifestyle they're accustomed to because two incomes are required to purchase what one would have once covered, but they are penalized for doing so by the tax code in the United States. High paying blue collar jobs in the United States have largely been outsourced, and those are the jobs that contributed the most to the lower middle class.

Furthermore, the middle class is expected to be educated, and the cost of a college education in the United States is rising. Most people graduate university with thousands of dollars in student loan debt, which further cripples the middle class.

One of the things that has inadvertantly made living harder is easy access to credit. A huge portion of our economy is based on credit and debt collection. Someday, that is really going to hurt our middle class, regardless of whether or not they themselves have taken out mortgages or use credit cards. We're already seeing this in the meltdown of the subprime lending market. Credit will continue to squeeze the middle class well into the future.

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Ustwo

Wins

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Sion

life is harder for those of us (who are the vast majority, I think) who refuse to accept the consequences of our choices. where you are in life is a direct result of the choices you made. if you don't like your lot in life, change it.

it really is that simple.


note: this applies to Americans and most of the western world, which of course means 90-something percent of TFP's membership. people who live in technologically backward third world countries or in war-torn areas or under repressive regimes are exempt from the above comments.

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Craven Morehead

Its also harder because we allow it to be. We (myself included) fall into the trap set by marketers, buy this, buy that. Now I'm looking forward to spending more money that I ever have before on a TV - and gladly so. As much as a car would have cost back in the 70s. Those bastards have me hooked! Born in 1952, I have a very good recall of the 70s. It was simpler, in many ways. Time didn't seem to be as scarce. And why is that? Everything's more efficient today. But we end up being so rushed, yet we can get a pizza in just a few minutes, everywhere you look is a restaurant with a drive through, one hour this and one hour that. Everything is so sped up. But there's no time left to enjoy it. I guess I would enjoy it better if I only had that new TV.