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A comment on Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home. Parent comment

Re:Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living a... by prirun on Friday June 11, 2021 @02:09PM (#27476654)
> I think if anyone truly wants a home and is willing to do whatever they need to in order to get it, they can get it. Same goes for just about everything else, if you want something, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to get it, you can do it.

You may be right, but people come in a normal distribution, with most being just average. To "do whatever it takes" implies a person on the extreme right of the distribution, and most people aren't there. So while it may be possible to buy a home, if it takes extreme effort to do it, most people won't.

Whereas, when I grew up in the 60's, my dad worked as a bag boy at Kroger, then a meatcutter. We had a small 3br house, 2 kids, a car, a motorcycle, a boat, insurance on all this stuff, and mom worked out of the house doing babysitting and ironing. They were still in their early 20's and got married right out of high school. We eventually had 2 cars while still in this house, around '65. Nothing even remotely like this would be possible today.

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Re:Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living a... by atweiden on Friday June 11, 2021 @05:00PM (#27478422)
See: 1971 Cost of Living [1].

    New House:                     $25,200.00
    Average Income:                $10,622.00 per year
    New Car:                       $3,560.00
    Average Rent:                  $150.00 per month
    Tuition to Harvard University: $2,600.00 per year
    Movie Ticket:                  $1.50 each
    Gasoline:                      40¢ per gallon
    United States Postage Stamp:   8¢ each
Whether due to currency debasement, globalization, or overpopulation, the disparity in cost of living between the two eras is staggering.

[1]: https://wtfhappenedin1971.com

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Re:Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living a... by mjevans on Friday June 11, 2021 @10:35PM (#27480936)
Similar (?) items based on near top results of google searches today:

The greatest takeaway for me is that everyone is FAR worse off today and in my generation.

US nationally (today 2021) about 85K is equivalent to the cited 25K 1971 numbers. :: ~10X cost of living (edited, I unconsciously compared to the wrong number.)

Seattle is far more distorted, with housing beyond out of control (I don't know what kind of house was being looked at for the 1971 numbers, but it really doesn't matter, there's almost nothing even remotely near the national price within the region). ::

Seattle's rent is completely out of control; beyond any rational measure. No wonder neither I nor my generation can make any savings; it's all being consumed by rent seeking land owners.

  Income   10600 %Income71
  House    25200   237.736
  Car       3600    33.962
  RentYear  1800    16.981
  UniYear   2600    24.528
  Gas5000mi  100     0.943
  Mail500invite 40   0.377
  -
  USA 2021        Equiv71
  House   269000   113151
  Car      30500    89806
  RentYear 14400    84800
  UniYear  26100   106408
  Gas5000mi  483.33 51233
  Mail500invite 290 76850
  -
  Seattle 2021    Equiv71
  House   750000   315476
  Car      30500    89806
  RentYear 36000   212000
  UniYear  31200   127200
  Gas5000mi 533.33  56533
  Mail500invite 290 76850
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