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> Can you name a single good or service [1] which fewer people today have than in my parent's generation? Fresh food. Fresh hamburger was less than $1 per pou

> Can you name a single good or service [1] which fewer people today have than in my parent's generation? Fresh food. Fresh hamburger was less than $1 per pound when I was a kid in the late 70's/early 80's. It's $5 per pound now. A five pound bag of onions used to be $1, now it's $6. Home ownership is also increasingly out of reach for younger people. In my suburb, the number of homes affordable on 80% of the median income fell from 70% to 40% in the last ten years. In some neighboring suburbs, it's below 25%.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
Home ownership is currently 67.8%. In 1975 it was 64.6%, which means that home ownership is (slightly) more accessible to people today than in the past. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeownership_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeownership_in_the_United_Sta... The average home is also 60% bigger. http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007032701?OpenDocument http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007032701?Ope... Obviously, these statistics are averaged over the entire country. Some specific regions will behave differently, of course (like your suburb and my hometown). As for the cost of hamburger, your dollar figure comparisons are irrelevant. I never disputed that green pieces of paper are worth less now than in 1970. However, on average wages in 1975, people spent 13.8% of their income on food. Today they only spend 9.6% and they eat out more. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/table7.htm http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data...
- dwiel 16y ago
  > However, on average wages in 1975, people spent 13.8% of their income on food. Today they only spend 9.6% and they eat out more. People's diets and 'food' in general are different now too though: see high fructose corn syrup and a huge increase in dietary related disease such as obesity and diabetes for example. You aren't comparing apples to apples.
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    Very true. Nowadays we have both access to crappy food as well as a larger variety of both fresh and ethnic foods which were not available in the US back then (e.g., avocados were uncommon when I was a kid). I don't know where to find really good data on this, unfortunately...

yummyfajitas 16y ago

Home ownership is currently 67.8%. In 1975 it was 64.6%, which means that home ownership is (slightly) more accessible to people today than in the past. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeownership_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeownership_in_the_United_Sta... The average home is also 60% bigger. http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007032701?OpenDocument http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007032701?Ope... Obviously, these statistics are averaged over the entire country. Some specific regions will behave differently, of course (like your suburb and my hometown). As for the cost of hamburger, your dollar figure comparisons are irrelevant. I never disputed that green pieces of paper are worth less now than in 1970. However, on average wages in 1975, people spent 13.8% of their income on food. Today they only spend 9.6% and they eat out more. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/table7.htm http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data...

dwiel 16y ago
> However, on average wages in 1975, people spent 13.8% of their income on food. Today they only spend 9.6% and they eat out more. People's diets and 'food' in general are different now too though: see high fructose corn syrup and a huge increase in dietary related disease such as obesity and diabetes for example. You aren't comparing apples to apples.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  Very true. Nowadays we have both access to crappy food as well as a larger variety of both fresh and ethnic foods which were not available in the US back then (e.g., avocados were uncommon when I was a kid). I don't know where to find really good data on this, unfortunately...