I think that if costs dropped drastically then that would just mean we would all

Sep 27, 2024
6:54:54am

boctabulous Truly Addicted User

buy a bigger/newer house, better car, a boat/jet ski/etc, go on better vacation........

We would just spend more and have more stuff but still not really have much more money and probably would complain just as much about money lol.

Report problem with this ad

boctabulous

Bio page: boctabulous
Joined: Aug 20, 2016
Last login: Sep 27, 2024
Total posts: 3,841 (1 FO)

Report problem with this ad

Messages

Author

Time

What do you think the main cause for both parents needing to work today is?

conetah

12:12am

Cost of goods, services, living, are high and a one middle class income can't cover it.

TANK

12:17am

Yep, they’re not DINKS.

Q-grr

7:44am

Exponential rises in the cost of healthcare, housing, food, insurance.

rad dawg

12:18am

Darn those MBAs.

dYrtbYkerYder

7:31am

Right?

Dryfire

7:35am

But those exponential increases have to be supported by the ability to pay. If

DiamondMo

7:37am

Yes and no.

rad dawg

8:59am

I agree it’s a chicken or the egg thing. But industry didn’t just become greedy.

DiamondMo

9:26am

As economic opportunities available to women increased, more chose to work and..

BYU'01

9:31am

Impact of the pill. Now more women can choose, and many choose to work. As hard

dYrtbYkerYder

9:38am

In 1964 <7% of women had a college degree. That’s ~6x higher today. With

BYU'01

10:17am

And you don't think that's related to the pill coming out in 1960?

dYrtbYkerYder

11:18am

Government interference in healthcare, housing, insurance, and education

Dryfire

7:43am

Crony capitalism

rad dawg

9:06am

Which is just another word for socialism

Dryfire

9:23am

Should we call higher ed an 'industry'? It is dominated by government. Gov'ts

BYU'01

9:33am

Yes its an industry.

rad dawg

10:27am

Our society - global, national, local - has never been wealthier

BYU'01

8:42am

So, we don't like capitalism anymore?

WDaddy

8:50am

Up to “complete insanity” spot on. After that lolol. MBA’s causing inflation lol

Big Daddy D

9:27am

MBAs ruin most things. They have definitely done a lot to ruin Medicine

JosephAllenMaldonado

11:14am

All of the above plus a need/desire for excess.

mulletino

12:20am

Higher standard of living, and lower wages

Jericho

12:32am

To your point. What used to be luxuries are now necessities. You cannot survive

Powerbait DPM

8:27am

Another thing to add, “starter homes” are now much bigger and more expensive

Powerbait DPM

8:55am

Our consumption relative to our grandpas is staggering. We are so wealthy.

BYU'01

8:48am

Two household incomes becoming the norm many years ago, which created more

CougFan4EverEver

12:36am

“Unintended”

BaseCoug

12:49am

Agreed

conetah

3:50am

Yep, now schools and media control the agenda for kids instead of string nuclear

palangi

5:35am

This is a big part of the answer. A 2-income household in a world of 1-income

delbert

2:18am

I think this is the primary answer as well. If everyone gets a 2nd income the

DiamondMo

7:31am

All other answers are correct, but I’d ad that at least in America, middle class

gwalker

12:39am

As middle class you bought your home before this exponential inflation because

palangi

5:40am

It's funny because I hear some of my younger coworkers complain all the time

cougarfan84

6:34am

Yeah, they’re not middle class, they’re just financially stupid

palangi

7:04am

If you had to buy your house today would the mortgage payment really only

JuicyJam

7:29am

They are nearly 3x the median US household income

BYU'01

7:36am

In 1980 the US was in the middle of one of the worst inflationary periods ever

bythenumbers

7:14am

A 20 inch color TV in 1980 cost over $1,300 2024 dollars. Crazy.

Byron McNertney

8:25am

We never had cable TV, cell phones, Internet. Our TV was 27”. Vacations where we

BYU'01

7:18am

The most important holiday in America used to be Christmas, and we didn't have

Shihan

12:49am

If you’re doing Halloween right there’s a lot of free candy to be had.

Q-grr

7:46am

Greed. All around

BaseCoug

12:52am

FOMO

Dr MoBYU

12:55am

Middle class w 1 working parent is dying.

VenomFarmer

1:57am

Need?

MormonThug

2:55am

How low could your income be and your wife still be able to stay at home? $80k? $60k? $50k?

KingDave

3:05am

You're asking the wrong crowd. Did you forget? Everyone on CB is north of $500K

Y05

3:43am

Very true. About 20 years ago, I was making about $25k and we could not have survived if my wife didn’t get a job.

KingDave

8:53am

Well, in our family’s case….

Yukon

3:09am

Man I had a beautifully crafted explanation I typed up but it didn’t save haha

conetah

3:18am

Reattempt: I’ll try to summarize.

conetah

3:46am

Primary worker income earnings is insufficient.

Recipefordisaster

3:18am

Yup. I work for the church and we can't do it on one.

IronPotato

7:42am

Everybody else is doing it, so they have more disposable income

Y05

3:29am

When everyone does the extra credit, it's no longer extra credit

Dataguy

3:33am

As # of dual-income families increase, so does the cost of living & real estate.

cougfrvr

4:31am

People like stuff. I used to do home health. Met a lot of people that raised 5

Squirt

4:32am

I bet you have a lot of stories you could share!

tyler durden

5:32am

Need/want confusion. I agree with a lot of what has been written here

Gentleman Stan

4:51am

The rise of too many other dual-income homes

Gustav

4:53am

An unfortunately ironic result of feminism

Gustav

4:55am

I think we are needier now. We think we need everything. We go to more

boctabulous

6:10am

lol. Survival. Especially if you live in California.

Idacoug

6:15am

We've always been and continue to be a single-income home.

jdub

6:22am

My wife works because she enjoys it and it helps her keep her sanity.

supertux

6:29am

This is exactly my wife’s perspective as well.

RootieBoy

6:51am

Feminism and materialism

CaliforniaCougar22

6:41am

My wife is working to basically pay off student loans.

Future_Tacos

6:43am

Interestingly, I read a book called "The Two Income Trap"

Courtimedes

6:54am

I think that if costs dropped drastically then that would just mean we would all

boctabulous

6:54am

Materialism

ballen

7:10am

The original cause was materialism and necessity, but now it’s leaning heavy

palangi

7:15am

I don't know, but when my dad was my age as the sole* income

JuicyJam

7:24am

Also, way too easy to spend our money. Used to be that you had to get up and

boctabulous

7:32am

<< Deleted >>

IronPotato

7:38am

Well, I work for the church and market value for what I do is too low to be a

IronPotato

7:43am

People want too much stuff.

TailgateU

7:47am

Ring alarm, disney plus, hulu, netflix, spotify, pandora, youtubetv, HBO max,

boctabulous

8:01am

You probably listed like $150-$200/month in subscriptions. Rising cost of housing, groceries, utilities is easily the

RootieBoy

8:20am

However, that was not my first post in this thread. Far from it. I was simply

boctabulous

9:11am

There is a book about this.

Posting on CougarBoard