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As @ModeledBehavior pointed out on Twitter, it's potentially misleading to compare median household income across generations when young people are increasingly

As @ModeledBehavior pointed out on Twitter, it's potentially misleading to compare median household income across generations when young people are increasingly delaying marriage.

IanCal 11y ago
I expect these figures will use the OECD scale for equivalising (is that the right verb?) the income. Or at least some scale like this. The source dataset certainly seems to: http://www.lisdatacenter.org/data-access/key-figures/inequality-and-poverty/ http://www.lisdatacenter.org/data-access/key-figures/inequal...
- twoodfin 11y ago
  I don't disagree that it's possible, but I'd like to find documentation. The income inequality analysis you linked to seems to be applying the equivalizing to produce a proxy for individual income. EDIT: Here's more on the datasets the Guardian used: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/millennials-how-we-revealed-predicament-generation-y-data http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/millennials-how... It does say they used equivalized household income.
tomp 11y ago
Hm... IMO, falling median household income is the reason for delaying marriage...
- dagw 11y ago
  How so? I mean being an unmarried couple isn't cheaper than being a married couple. At least among everybody I know, the reason for delaying marriage is that marriage isn't seen as that important any more, especially before kids show up in the picture. The only argument I could see is that falling median household income is the reason people are delaying having kids, which then makes getting married early less important.
  - lmm 11y ago
    For people who feel the weight of particular social expectations (which I agree they shouldn't but that's a separate discussion), weddings themselves are expensive.
sosuke 11y ago
Perhaps, but I'd like to see it account for the number of dual income vs single income families too. My dual income no kids friends seem to have plenty of house(s) and toys.
lhopki01 11y ago
Household income isn't just married households. It includes cohabiting couples, something that is more common now.

As @ModeledBehavior pointed out on Twitter, it's potentially misleading to compare median household income across generations when young people are increasingly delaying marriage.

IanCal 11y ago

I expect these figures will use the OECD scale for equivalising (is that the right verb?) the income. Or at least some scale like this. The source dataset certainly seems to: http://www.lisdatacenter.org/data-access/key-figures/inequality-and-poverty/ http://www.lisdatacenter.org/data-access/key-figures/inequal...

twoodfin 11y ago
I don't disagree that it's possible, but I'd like to find documentation. The income inequality analysis you linked to seems to be applying the equivalizing to produce a proxy for individual income. EDIT: Here's more on the datasets the Guardian used: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/millennials-how-we-revealed-predicament-generation-y-data http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/millennials-how... It does say they used equivalized household income.

tomp 11y ago

Hm... IMO, falling median household income is the reason for delaying marriage...

dagw 11y ago
How so? I mean being an unmarried couple isn't cheaper than being a married couple. At least among everybody I know, the reason for delaying marriage is that marriage isn't seen as that important any more, especially before kids show up in the picture. The only argument I could see is that falling median household income is the reason people are delaying having kids, which then makes getting married early less important.
- lmm 11y ago
  For people who feel the weight of particular social expectations (which I agree they shouldn't but that's a separate discussion), weddings themselves are expensive.

sosuke 11y ago

Perhaps, but I'd like to see it account for the number of dual income vs single income families too. My dual income no kids friends seem to have plenty of house(s) and toys.

lhopki01 11y ago

Household income isn't just married households. It includes cohabiting couples, something that is more common now.