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46 Comments
- NitrousFlare, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23All of these comments suck.
- jerrysizzler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13...not as much as this one i'm currently typing
- 1310nm, on 10/12/2007, -6/+17Worse off. It seems very hard to get into anything lucrative anymore, gone are the days of Bob going to the office every morning, having a cup of coffee, and pulling down enough cash to pay for a 2-story house while feeding the family every night and driving a new car to his bowling league's games.
- skitzovision, on 10/12/2007, -10/+20As far as bringin' home the bacon? I'm a loser. My mother says that when it comes to being good in the sack, I'm the best by a long shot. Ha Ha! In your face, Dad!
How you like me now? - arkitect, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Move to the Midwest. There are still places like that. Just not where people want to live.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Jobs are also not real jobs, they are more like temp work. Although those that digg me down probably wish they had "real" jobs ;)
- aks123, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12All this stuff is true, but one way we are worse off than our parents is that it is HARDER to get a job now.
- sooperdooper, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9You're worse off. Way, way worse off. In fact, *worst* off.
Sincerely,
Granddad - Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10If you cut past these bogus indicators like "household income" or "GDP per capita", you'll see that a typical wage earner now makes less per hour of work than their historical counterpart, and quality-of-life issues (like job security, housing, medical, etc.) have plummeted through the floor.
- venom8599, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Income has gone up, but what about inflation and cost of living?
- Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Nevermind the fact that when you're old and grey, and you need your little check from Social Security, the system will be totally bankrupt thanks to the fact that the money you think you're paying in for your 'golden years' are actually paying for good old grand-dad's bills because the system was broken from its inception. Good times...
- ogden, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12I make 2x the median household income in California BY MYSELF and cannot afford a house remotely near where I work. If people making low 6 figures can't afford houses -- who can?
- Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4He's right though. As of 2004 the average cost of a home was $450,000 in California. The obvious response to the less-than-educated would be, "Well, why don't you just move then?" to which the obvious response is "Well, I won't make as much money in other parts of the country." Regardless of where you are though, making a living is difficult, especially if you're single or in a one-income home. I work in the IT field (and was teaching previously) and live in South Carolina, and I can barely afford a rent payment every month. I more or less make next to nothing for the field I'm in, but it's a whole lot better than what someone who works at retail makes. I have no idea how they make ends meet.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8like anything else, it doesn't apply to EVERYONE, it just happens that upward intergenerational movement is a lot harder, it does not in anyway apply to everyone so chill the ***** out theres always exceptions
- Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@ Lomi: There are lots of people with a "strong work ethic" making similar (or worse) amounts of money to their parents, at least as far as actual buying power goes. Congratulations on reaping the rewards of your hard work, but be aware that there are plenty of people working just as hard (or harder) just to make ends meet.
- tinman79, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Mean household income is up way more than median household income. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would imply that there are some in the higher range pulling up the mean more significantly while those in the lower half and middle remain less affected by the increase.
In other words: the rich get richer and the poor and middle class are seeing a relative devaluation. You gotta love big business stomping on the little guy so they can make $10 billion instead of only $8.5 billion a quarter. - fifaigor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This article optimistically states that the income has risen, but fails to address the inflation over the years in terms of consumer goods and real estate growth.
- Blue_Eon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The income numbers have gone up because the rich people keep getting richer while the poor or middle class people are getting the same pay or less. Eventually the middle class is going to be decimated and it will just be the rich and the poor.
So while it might seem that everything is looking better, it's only looking better for those who are already making a lot of money. The blue collar workers aren't seeing any benefits at all. In fact, I'd say they're seeing their benefits being taken away. - Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Obviously there are those here who do not have a firm grasp on reality. How is it in La-La Land?
Give me some facts to dispute what I just said above if you're going to Digg it down. - siszam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We live in Cali too and could never afford a home here and frankly, would never be stupid enough to pay so much for one. Lots of people make fun of the "fly over states" but you can get a house for 40,000 there that would cost 700,00 in San Diego. We're saving and in a few years will pay cash for a home in the Midwest. I will also be buying homes for all my sons with cash. We make around fifty thousand a year. If we can do it anyone can.
My point is, if you stop buying things you don't need with money you don't have so you can impress people you don't like, you can make great strides in life. Sure I dress like a bag lady but no one will be laughing at me when I have no payments. I won't have to work thirty years to pay for a house. Neither will my children.
It is much harder these days but we lack the self control and self sacrifice that our elders knew. You can succeed. You just need set your priorities. Don't use credit cards. Drive a paid for used car. Don't buy things you don't need. Keep your money. Dave Ramsey says it best. If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else. - jmiller520, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Karyyk
Well, if owning a home is important, moving somewhere with a reasonable real estate market is not a bad choice. Even if a pay cut is inevitable. California dollars don't go as far as, say, Idaho dollars. - JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now if only inflation wasn't such a huge factor . .
- Gizza, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I know for sure that living in Perth, Australia I'm definitely worse off for housing now. House values here have gone up about 400% in the past 5 years.
- ssmith39, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'll probably get dugg down for this, but anyway...
When I was a teenager in the 1970's (you kids get off my lawn!) my parents owned a 4 br. house and a 2 br. cabin, both in Northern California. They owned 2 nice cars, took regular vacations and had part ownership in an airplane. They sent me and my sister to college (not at the same time) and still had enough to help my grandmother every month.
My dad worked for the local electric utility and my mom didn't work. - DooM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Next time don't take career advice from someone who just got fired.
- 1310nm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@arkitect
Why do you assume I'm NOT in the midwest? - maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1SEARGANT SPHINCTER
- ERSWeb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1While I won't disagree with the labor/wage statistics I think the problems detailed in housing and education are greatly exaggerated. For one while we've seen a huge run up in the real estate market over the past few years there is no indication that this will not moderate over the coming years. “New-home prices today are 56 percent higher, inflation-adjusted, than they were in 1980,” this is true, but if you look at the long term average of inflation adjusted housing prices you'll see that the average cost of a home is up only a few percent since the 1940s.
As for college, many economists believe that a surge in enrollment is partially to blame for skyrocketing education costs. They cite the demand from the demographic known as the Echo Boom. As the children of baby boomers have come of age they have increased competition and demand for higher education and have resulted in a steady ratcheting up of tuition costs. As this segment of the population ages from college into the workplace, schools will likely see a decline in the number of applications and thus a lesser demand for their services. It's possible that this decline could slow the cost escalation of a four year degree, but no one knows for sure. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -14/+14I do have to say that life chances has a lot to do with how well you do in life. Social class you are born into, race, ethnicitiy etc.. all play a major role in where you stand in the social ladder
- lordmetroid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Okay the article says pretty much that in all way that doesn't matter for the important stuff you are better off. But in all other ways that do matter when it comes to your freedom you are way worse!
- ogden, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@karyyak & JMiller:
Sadly the type of work I do is more or less only available in big cities, so even if I moved, it would have to be to someplace that would be most likely suffering the same fate. If I were a teacher or something though, I would move to the middle of nowhere. In the big cities Orange County, LA, San Diego, San Fransisco, (all places I'm employable) the average house prices are more like like in the 600 - 1m range. If you follow the rule of not borrowing more than 3-4x your income -- you see you need to make about 150k to afford a *crappy* run down house.
The situation is so out of whack that a friend of mine who lives a few miles down the road bought his house *just* before the run up in prices these last few years. His house payment is $300 more than my rent.
@JerrySizzler: I thought your comment was funny. Nobody on digg has a sense of humor :) The point of my post of course was not to say "whoa is me" but simply, that even the top end isn't doing so well at the moment. - Amnesia10, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Twenty years ago it was possible for someone with average wages to buy a house using a mortgage multiplier of 3 times salary, now you need to earn way more approaching 12 times average salary where I live. Prices have gone up slowly and so have wages, though pension income is likely to crash for the next generation. During the 70's and 80's pensions grew at more than 10% per year, now they struggle to meet half that. So consequently we need to pay far more into our pensions than our parents. Our parents could afford to retire with a modest pension fund because annuity returns on them were so high. Now annuities pay a fraction and so to have the same pension we need to save 3 or 4 times more, plus we have to pay more for our homes. Whilst gadgets and other consumables are much cheaper we need to pay out far more for mortgages and pensions than our parents so we will be worse off.
- jerrysizzler, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1both. synonymously.
- rygoke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Parents are the cream of the crop in a family. They either raise or bash you.
- imjustsayin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1There are plenty of opportunities to exceed your parents (unless your parents are hugely rich). My whole circle of friends come from very diverse backgrounds, and they are all doing better than their parents ever did. Whether or not you do better than your parents is primarily determined by your intelligence and work ethic.
After a certain point, excuses about background and social class are just that. Excuses. Any reasonably intelligent person is capable of going to college, getting a career and being successful. The problem is that there are too many people from disadvantaged backgrounds that aren't getting the message that they can succeed. They are told that they can't and therefore they don't. - NanoStuff, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Surely you must be kidding. How are you measuring 'the quality of life' issues on health for example? Are you telling me that if you had heart disease you'd rather take a time machine to 1970 to receive treatment? What about housing? Yes houses have gone up in price, but who said you had to buy a house. I can get a nice apartment for $500 with all utilitities. If anything, the competition in rental due to the expanded housing market is in my favor.
- ahfoo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Well Money Magazine has their statistics and they look pretty bleak despite what seemed like a bit of effort to polish it up. But here's a little ethnographic vignette to add to the survey.
Back in, oh let's say it was around eighty three, eighty four or so, my buddy and I both graduated from the university and we went to the career center to get our jobs. After all, that's how we assumed it went.
We get in there to our appointment and the advisor says well boys, I got two options for ya. One is to go to grad school. The other is to consider an ESL teaching position overseas. We looked at each other like WTF?
The counselor looked us square in the eye and said: "There are no jobs for you here in Southern California and as a matter of fact, I have just lost my job due to cost cuts here at the university. This is my last career counseling session. I'm going to start packing as soon as you two leave."
I want to grad school and my buddy went to Japan. He's still there.
Now my parents, on the other hand, they had a different experience. Back in the sixties, before they even graduated from the university they were sent invitations for full-time salaried positions and they just had to choose which one they wanted. They didn't even interview. Those were jobs that allowed them to buy houses for cash after a few years of saving and they were accustomed to buying new cars right off the dealer's lot every few years. Now they're retired and pulling down pensions that most starting lawyers can only drool over.
I think we got a pretty ***** deal in comparison. But I've got a good life nonethless. That just goes to show you that money is really overrated. They didn't have the net and free open source software among the other shared cultural resources that make it such a pleasure to be alive today. Nonethless, in terms of money our generation got *****. - jerrysizzler, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3oh man, I'm totally gonna rip this guy a new one! thinks he's so smart!
if only i could think of something to say. i just can't stop thinking about how awesome he is...oh wait, i've got something...ha...
maybe it's because you apparently work somewhere urban, need too much room to store all your money, and can only get a permit to build a money bin out in Duckburg.
also, did you know there are a LOT of people in California? A lot of them make a LOT less than you... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1Never had a mommy. Me and my Daddy shared yours!
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -15/+9Mine are dead so I'm probably doing better. Also, bartender, I'll have what he's having.
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4Spoken like a true inbred.
- p014k, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1digg down
- Lomi, on 10/12/2007, -17/+5*****, i grew up far below poverty, the only thing i had going for me was discipline and a strong work ethic, and now i make 6 figures, far more than anything my parents could have made.
the trades are a wonderful thing. - PSPon, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1link?
- maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -18/+4Seargent Sphincter is my GOD DAMN HERO
He's one stinky mother too, and I'm not just saying that to be moody - thetito, on 10/12/2007, -19/+2duplicate story
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