Generational standards of living

[timun]

Originally Posted by Slava

You’re not breaking anything to me, haha. I go to the gym regularly and believe me I know I’m an old man. But funny thing is, you know I’m entirely right and you used the exact same time frame, complete with the same generations.

*sigh*... Like I said earlier, for somebody who's allegedly not trying to be obtuse, you're doing a bang-up job of being so.

And I'm not far behind you age-wise, I'm getting to be ####ing old too. My grandparents aren't a couple generations ago relative to today: they're so old THEY'RE DEAD!

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by timun

*sigh*... Like I said earlier, for somebody who's allegedly not trying to be obtuse, you're doing a bang-up job of being so.

And I'm not far behind you age-wise, I'm getting to be ####ing old too. My grandparents aren't a couple generations ago relative to today: they're so old THEY'RE DEAD!

Yo, are you crazy or something? All caps on CP lol? Slava's obtuse because he pointed out you're wrong and don't get stuff? Wtf, timun? You seemed normal to me until today haha.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Yo, are you crazy or something? All caps on CP lol? Slava's obtuse because he pointed out you're wrong and don't get stuff? Wtf, timun? You seemed normal to me until today haha.

I think slava's the one being weird, timun's at least commented on the topic

[troutman]

Have young people ever been as depressed and anxious as they are now?

[timun]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Yo, are you crazy or something? All caps on CP lol? Slava's obtuse because he pointed out you're wrong and don't get stuff? Wtf, timun? You seemed normal to me until today haha.

No, he's obtuse because HE () doesn't get it, and if YOU don't get it either, guess what?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by troutman

Have young people ever been as depressed and anxious as they are now?

I know someone who is anxious about the ever increasing rental costs and how their wages can't keep up the ever increasing everyday costs of living. How can I save for a down payment on a house when most of my wages are to pay the bills and keep a roof over her head, she complains. I help out when I can but I feel she's ####ed and will be forever stuck in the vicious cycle of trying to stay above water.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Thats a sobering look.
Also consider what people spend money on now.
Back in the 70s-80s my parents didnt pay for cell phones, streaming services, more than one car, the entire family going to a restaurant together other than for a kids birthday, brands didnt matter for clothes or runners, multiple vacations a year didnt exist (not for us at least) Thats just a short list, Im sure theres a myriad of other things that can be listed.

I grew up in the 60's and 70's and TV was a set of rabbit ears and 3 channels and nothing on. Then came Cable TV with more channels and still nothing good on. Dad had the nice car and Mom drove a beater that often broke down. My runners were the $1.49 specials from Woodwards and when our blue jeans got holes in the knees, she ironed on patches. Holidays were a trip to BC with a tent trailer every summer. No allowance, you wanted something you had to work for it. Eating out was a rare occurance.

Before anyone asks, yes I'm old.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Would you say that you had it worse or better than the people who find themselves in a similar situation today?

I'm going to have to be pedantic because I dont like the term 'worse.'

My childhood largely sucked and we didnt have a lot of money and I got choked out on the schoolyard lawn.

It was different though. Very different. My kids have gone from some serious economic hardships to where we are now, they've made some very significant sacrifices and suffered a very, very serious loss and...its been a journey.

I think its always a journey.

I would easily say that my kids have had it harder than me.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by zamler

Energy and technology in general has dramatically improved our way of life despite government's best efforts

https://ourworldindata.org/a-history...ing-conditions

Its pretty interesting to see half of the population rail against big government, when big government and socialist policies created the economic conditions for the middle class that everyone wants to return to.

[GGG]

I think the benefits labour participation increasing has been swallowed up by the cost of housing

Essentially because there are more two income families the amount of dollars chasing housing is highe while the amount of desired housing is fixed. So you get a lot of the extra income a 2nd person working in the home used to provide being swallowed up into housing causing more work for the same benefit.

Another problem is that we have taken the results in gains from automation and energy cost reductions by consuming more rather than working less. The hours per capita to run society to meet basic needs is far lower than at any point in history (maybe recently with pricing carbon you could say within the last 10 years was the bottom). So as a society we have a consumption problem and a wealth distribution problem.

Average quality of life is clearly higher median quality may not be.

Median household familiy income in adjusted dollars is up significantly since 1980. (Down slightly post Covid)
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dail...10323a-eng.htm

While there was no significant increase in median after-tax income of Canadian families and unattached individuals from 2018 to 2019, the past two decades have represented a period of growth in family incomes. Since 2000, the median after-tax income of Canadian families and unattached individuals has risen at an average rate of 1.2% per year above inflation, increasing by about $12,000.

That’s gets us to the year 2000 and then in terms of 1980-2000
https://publications.gc.ca/Collectio...75-202-XIE.pdf

Real family income is up faster than inflation meaning the problem for families at least is wealth distribution and consumption.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by troutman

Have young people ever been as depressed and anxious as they are now?

I think so, we simply lacked the vocabulary.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Seems like it would have been invented closer to breakfast or lunch.

The word origin of avocado is testicle, so he could be right.


https://www.rd.com/article/avocado-origin/

[undercoverbrother]

I know for my family things are better.

My Granddad has a sister. She had 15 children, 14 of which were twins. I #### you not. Only the non-twin lived passed 10, this was in the UK, during the ‘30s/‘40s

My children’s standard of living is greater than what I had. We own our home, I think I was in grade 10 by the time my folks could buy a house.

My son doesn’t have to wear his sister hand me down jeans to school.

My kids have never know the taste of powdered milk.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by troutman

Have young people ever been as depressed and anxious as they are now?

Hard to say, since before around the 90s it was culturally taboo to talk about depression and anxiety.

But if they are in fact more depressed and anxious than the generation that went through the Depression and fought in WW2, then it’s unlikely material deprivation is the root of their unhappiness. Other factors could be at play, such as the steep decline in face-to-face socialization, and spending several hours a day engaged with social media platforms that are fuelled by comparison and anxiety.

[Geraldsh]

My mother lived through the 30’s depression, for the rest of her life she could not pass up a sale on flour. My sisters and I were gifted many bags over the years.

A podcast about cultural differences in dreams showed a lack of community in our first world culture that exacerbated anxiety and depression. We had that sense of community before technology isolated us.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

My mother lived through the 30’s depression, for the rest of her life she could not pass up a sale on flour. My sisters and I were gifted many bags over the years.

A podcast about cultural differences in dreams showed a lack of community in our first world culture that exacerbated anxiety and depression. We had that sense of community before technology isolated us.

"Its all going according to plan..." - SkyNet...probably.

[blender]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

I grew up in the 40s and 50s in Toronto. My parents bought a small bungalow in what was then the very north end of Toronto, and what is now the center. They paid $4300. for it in 1943, and sold it in 1953 for $13.500. My Dad's salary went from $50. a week to $100. in the same time span. Usually when you got a good job, in those days, you had it for life. My Dad worked for Simpsons. Decent pensions didn't come along until later. When my Mom started working in a nearby factory, I remember thinking we were rich, when I saw juice showing up in the fridge.

In those days, the doctor paid a visit to your house carrying his little black bag, and I remember my parents trying to scrape up some money to pay him. We all got inoculated in school for small pox and diptheria. We had quite a scare when people started getting polio, until they found the vaccine.

Our street was unpaved, and all the neighbors and kids got together on weekends and played baseball in the middle of the road. Only the odd family on the street owned a car. I would guess we were the middle class at the time, and only the people living in the old money areas like Forest Hill Village and Rosedale seemed to have any significant amount of wealth.

I had some excellent teachers in school and only got the strap twice...once for laughing at a substitute teacher and once for throwing snow balls. All the kids went to the show on Saturday afternoon at a cost of 12 cents. We all booed when the good guys got injured and cheered when the bad guy got shot. As kids we made our own fun by playing cops and robbers, hide and seek, toboganning, etc. We played baseball and hockey and we the kids organized our own teams and kept records. I got a bb gun at the age of 13. My parents refused to buy it for me, so I bought it myself, and had my sister give it to me as a Christmas present.

On Sunday after dinner, the family all huddled around the radio to listen to programs like Lux Theatre, Boston Blacky, Fibber McGee and Molly, and the Shadow. My family were the first on the Block to have a tv, and all the kids came to our house to watch Howdy Doody, the Three Stooges, Red Skelton etc.

Each year in the fall we would get a load of coal to fill up our coal bin in the basement. I remember someone was always called upon to pull the chain that allowed more air into the furnace.

Although we didn't have a lot of money I wouldn't trade my early years for all the advantages that kids have today.

Your account sounds very much like my father's growing up in upstate New York. Pretty idyllic time to be a kid.

My father-in-law sailed across the Atlantic on a boat to Halifax at 5. It was his first memory, starting a new life in a new world.

For me, growing up in the 80s in Calgary was pretty good, too. Lots of hockey on the outdoor rink, baseball at the school diamond. We cut play guns out of plywood and ran around "shooting" at each other. Riding our bikes ($100 from Canadian Tire, lol) to the top of Home road and daring to ride down. Lots of camping in the Rockies in our canvas wall tent.

We sure didn’t have much money, but I wasn't aware of it at the time. Once my dad got paid for a job with a $1000 dollar bill. It was a big deal for him showing it to me. It seems simple compared to today, but memory has a way of smoothing out the rough parts and shining up the stuff that makes you feel good when you think of it now.

[fotze2]

What happened to bruh?

[Fuzz]

Life was also easier in cities, because you didn't spend half your day in traffic. Getting around was a cinch. With fewer people around, camping was easier and generally anything in the mountains was more enjoyable. Skiing was something a family could at least occasionally afford.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by troutman

Have young people ever been as depressed and anxious as they are now?

I don't think so. Part of it its that they are much more open talking about it than in previous generations, but the frequency and severity seems much higher. I don't recall ever seeing someone have a panic attack when I was young and never had one myself, yet my kids both have, many of their friends have, and it's common enough that they know what to do, very calmly, to help someone experiencing one.