stock here: Stolen from nextdoor
n analysis of “affordability” today vs. 1963 when I was a kid based on mean salary then and now, and same house size.
I can give you the entire analysis, or you can do it yourself, but here are the conclusions from the analysis:
Gasoline: remarkably similar affordability to 1963.
Basic groceries: generally more affordable relative to wages today, despite the sticker shock from seeing $4 milk or $2+ eggs.
Housing today relative to earnings based on 1500 sq. Ft. of house:
1963: $19,780 ÷ $4,500 = 4.40 years’ earnings
Today: $285,375 ÷ $65,052 = 4.39 years’ earnings
And that produces a fascinating wrinkle: once we normalize strictly for square footage, the relationship is surprisingly similar.
So the “affordability” crisis is largely based on this generation wanting bigger houses, nicer cars, eating out, and driving more, than previous generations, rather than “rich people” or companies “jacking up prices”. There were 6 people in my family as a kid, and we lived in a tiny house, my mom made almost everything from scratch, and we didn’t jet around the country for fun. Things were tough but we did ok. I know I’m going to get the boomer line from many younger people, but we lived it, you didn’t.
And we see the excess today, and all the whining, and just roll our eyes. Things are just as “affordable” as they ever were, people today just WANT more.