this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2026
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The frustrating part is what the upper class misses, They describe it as the "standard of living" going up... They are talking as if getting a house is the same as always, but we all want netflix and video games now so we are struggling to keep up. When the obvious situation to anyone not at the top is, what used to be expensive luxuries are getting cheaper, new luxuries are being added, but essentials are ballooning out of control.
If we had the choice to live like the 80s, where we could casually afford a home for a family with a single income etc... but facebook were more expensive... their analogies would make sense. but the reality is, we're all forced into the work large hours, not because we want more luxuries, but because the basic human needs for food, water and shelter are where the requirements are going up.
My dad did afford a home for a family with a single income and it was in the 2000s
Let's not pretend it's some impossible feat
I didn't say it was impossible, I meant it was far harder than it was. It was the normal expected result at one point, and as time goes forward it's less and less common.
It was already more difficult in the 1980s because women entered the workforce. The peak male single earner household was the early 1970s before the peak of Japanese manufacturing
I'll agree, but what I'll say is it's a chain.. were we to put it
https://www.longtermtrends.com/home-price-median-annual-income-ratio/
so bottom line is it's right, it was actually a minor peak in 1970, dropping to 1975, going up to 1980... balooned like crazy in the 2005 housing bubble, and is currently sitting way above that.
but yeah I'd say key overall trend is, starting around 1970... it's on the whole progressively gotten worse over time.
This doesn't take into account interest rate. Homes were cheaper in the 1980s because nobody could afford a mortgage at 10% or more
Housing was actually easier to finance after the housing crash because of 0% interest rates and lots of foreclosed real estate. That is, if you didn't lose your job due to the financial crisis
There will always be exceptions, but what matters is systemic trends.
You're not going to put women back into the kitchen and de-grow China. So it's not like it's even possible to expect everyone to raise a family on one income.