Bitch, we’ve BEEN living paycheck to paycheck! Millenials and younger don’t know anything else! It’s only Gen X and older that ever had jobs that pay a “living wage”…whatever THAT is!
Gonna have to go earlier than that; or at least very early gen-Xers. Wife and I (born 80 and 77, respectively) were paycheck to paycheck until we were in our late 30s. Consider until like '98 or 2000, I was making 4.35 an hour (in San Diego, no less) . We are good now, but only because I am in the tech field and we live in a sorta low cost-of-life area. But even now, saving for retirement and my kids college funds doesn’t leave a whole hell of a lot sitting around. Mind that we budget like mad. Know what every bill will be a year out and have buckets for those.
Point of that cool story is that there have been many generations of people living check-to-check. Boomers are probably the closest thing to maybe working a service job, but still having enough to pay mortgage on a little ranch-style house or at least covering rent and other bills.
Briefly mentions debt and rent.
No numbers though.
Rent/Housing Costs are 420% (up 320%) of what they were in 1982, assuming you live in or near a city, you know, where jobs are.
Wages are 120% (up 20%) what they were in 1982.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1raP7
Also, debt levels continue to skyrocket with approximately a third of Americans having a negative net worth.
https://www.creditkarma.com/about/commentary/americans-have-a-net-worth-problem-and-its-not-positive
But of course the article doesn’t want to get too specific.
If the goal is having less Americans living paycheck to paycheck, the solution is crash the housing market and also consumer (credit card) debt relief.
Until then, the
beatingsgrowing class divide will continue until morale improves.Slower inflation doesnt mean more money, it means less loss of money for longer.
To actually revert the hyperinflation since covid there would have to be a years long deflation happening.
