| 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. |