I suspect it's quite possible to raise a family on a single income if you're willing to live like it was the 1950s.
Schooling costs are also way, way, way higher than they were in the 50s, and there are no well paying manufacturing jobs to do if you aren't inclined to go to college.
I really doubt that you would be able to raise a family on a single income these days with the same standard of living you could have back then.
Basically the definition of 'comfort' underwent a huge upgrade without a equivalent upgrade in the perception of costs that would go to afford them. This is largely happening because people are using the term 'working-class' and 'middle-class' to measure to make different measurements in different times.
Yes, we should still be able to afford raising a family of five with one wage earner.
However, due to both me and my wife working, we can't afford to properly raise our own kids, grow a veggie garden (plot size is too small) or sew/mend our clothes.
We have 1400 sqft, don't have air conditioning, don't have cable, and if only one of us had to work, heck, we could do with only one car (bikes were a thing back then and we aimed for a good wike/balk score when purchasing).
I think a lot of the "upgrades to life" are simply the consequence of busier lives, not exactly better ones.
The masses know that something is very wrong, but they don't know what to do and hence the thrashing around for alternatives. As long as the rich keep the door to upper middle class open to the cognitive elite they are safe.
Not sure that is possible.
The only thing that amazes me is how strategic they were in handling the situation and how they were willing to sacrifice income and power for generations to win the class war. They are certainly being advised by the best minds available.
Well possibly. I'm British so my experience may differ but I happen to have read my great grandfather's diary, he was a carpenter during the Great War, spent a lot of time with my grandfather, he was in the RAF. My father was an immigrant, kicked out of Egypt by Nasser.
My life, for all the hours I work and the stress, is a bed of roses compared to anything they went through. In fact, I feel slightly guilty even comparing. My children, who I believe are entering a more difficult world than the one I was born to, can't really comprehend my upbringing let alone their immediate ancestors.
Feudalism 2.0? Maybe. But I'll take it Thank you. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and appreciate what you've got.
The problem is that policy hasn't evolved with technology. Technology has caused two things: 1) increase income disparity & 2) increase unemployment. The problem is that what worked for American til WW2, a laissez faire economic policy, doesn't handle these two things well. We need to encourage our policy makers to figure out a society that has better wealth distribution and can handle a large % of the population not working.
Families? In some cities, singles are struggling to keep a crappy one-bedroom apartment roof over their head.
Today, it takes nearly 2x the median household income to get something resembling that kind of life. Granted, you're still considered middle class at that level of income...
In some cities. In other cities, that's just not true. Example: in Atlanta, GA, the median income is right over $55k. According to Zillow, that will get you a house in the $227k range. There are tons of single-family houses with yards in that price range (or even half that) in the city.
I ran similar math for Dallas, TX. I'd bet there are a lot of markets where this is true.
Housing is only expensive in the expensive housing markets.
Zillow and other home pushers are interested in selling houses, not in the consequences for the buyers thereafter.
All that said, in Atlanta, 3 BR/2 BA houses are abundant in the under-$150k range. Or under $100k. It's really not approaching necessary to earn 2x the median income in cities like Atlanta to buy a house with a yard.
The point is the OP's math assumes one lives in a high-cost area, which is not the reality where most Americans live.
$1.8k housing, plus $500 for property taxes and insurance, $1,000 for two vehicles (payments, insurance (damned teenage drivers), gas, maintenance), $500 into savings for household emergencies, $800 to feed four, $100 per person for clothing, the occasional ice cream, paying off medical deductables... and you're quickly looking at needing over $5,000 a month gross just to get by.
5,000 / 0.7 * 12 = $85,000
Toss in 10% savings and 10% retirement, and you're well over $100,000.
Sure, you can cut corners and live off a lot less than that, but I'm comparing it to the standard of living had by people 40 years ago.
(Random nitpick: if you're earning the median income, paying a mortgage while contributing to retirement; and have 2 kids, you are not paying anything close to 30% of your income in income taxes.)
Also you are right that if you save ~30% of your median income ($500 + 10% savings + 10% retirement), the month-to-month gets a little tighter. But then you can retire early. :-)
I'm not arguing that everything is roses, just that tens of millions of people live at the median income and own houses, cars, etc.
You'd have done much better here arguing about the costs of childcare or higher education. Those are a bloodbath, no matter where you are.
I think you are off of what you intended by an order of magnitude on that house size. (And a bit high for reality even after correcting for that error.)
Tangentially related: https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf
I don't think it's too high, though. My parents built something on the order of 5,000 sqft in the early 70's for around $15,000 (including the 5 acres of land), adjusted for inflation that's under $150,000. My Mom was able to put herself through 4 years of college by waiting tables part time.
Yeah, we had it good. Why? My dad's blue collar job burying and splicing telephone lines for Ma'Bell.
It really was a different time. That same job today comes with no job security and remarkably similar wages as it was 40 years ago, even as the cost of living and inflation has increased tenfold.