Reply to Was there ever a time when your average nine to fiver could afford the American Dream?

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[quote=Anonymous]I agree that college costs have gone up and that housing costs have too, in most places -- though my parents bought their house in the midwest for around 30k in the early 1970s, around 216k in today's dollars, and that is around the price it would fetch today.

But it's also true that people's standards of living have gone up, too. House sizes have gotten way larger than in the past even though families are smaller. People expect to travel more and own more things, more clothes, more cars.

And when my parents got married in the 1960s they paid less than $100 for an afternoon cake and punch reception in the church basement, so less than $1000 in today's money. Today the average cost of a wedding reception is somewhere around 30k. And engagement rings are bigger, expensive, and more ubiquitous than in the past.

But totally agree that many salaries have stagnated over the decades even as the top salaries have soared. And that the weakening of unions is a contributor to this problem.

All of these things can be true at the same time.
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