[somenameforme]

This [1] page shows changes in real average household incomes from 1965 to 2020, broken down by quintile. Keep in mind the sharp increase in the number of necessities in modern life as well as things like healthcare, education, and housing inflating in price way beyond the rate of nominal inflation. Economically, many people certainly had significantly better lives in the past. Of course that would also have been a life generally without mass computing, the internet, and other such things. And I did say "many people", as it seems the bare median has probably moved up just enough that they're probably better off, but it's really uncomfortably close when one thinks how much we 'ought' have improved.

[1] - https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2021/10/2...