[pmg102]

Are you genuinely arguing that people in 2023 are poorer than they were in 1950? This would be astonishing if true wouldn't it? Hasn't GDP tripled or something since then?

I think it's more likely to be expectation inflation. People in 2023 just wouldn't be satisfied to live the life people were satisfied to live in 1950.

A thought experiment could be: - There are people that earn 100kpa and people that earn 50kpa - Both kinds of people think they "need two incomes to live these days" - Obviously the 100kpa people could ditch a whole income and live at the level of the two 50kpa people -- but they wouldn't choose to, they'd rather have the lifestyle of a 200kpa household

[jbombadil]

Yes. About 4 times poorer. (Scoping to the domain of “buying a house” which is a huge driving factor in having children)

> Median home prices increased 121% nationwide since 1960, but median household income only increased 29%.[0]

[0] https://listwithclever.com/research/home-price-v-income-hist... (That’s from where I quoted, but there’s plenty of sources. More available upon request)

[ekianjo]

> Yes. About 4 times poorer.

You don't need to buy a house to be able to live. And no, people are not poorer if you consider all factors. That's a crazy argument to make. No human living in 2023 would want to live with 1950 standards.

[jbombadil]

> You don’t need to buy a house to be able to live.

Agree.

> No human living in 2023 would want to live by 1950 standards.

Also agree.

But that neither of those things are relevant for the argument.

You don’t need a house to live, but it provides stability, which is a huge part of the decision of having children.