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Looking at most of that data, a lot of this seems to be a combination of a tanking economy/jobs market/gig economy, and a technology that allows one to feel mor

Looking at most of that data, a lot of this seems to be a combination of a tanking economy/jobs market/gig economy, and a technology that allows one to feel more connected without having to spend money to go out. The iPhone has worn the continuing echoes of late stage capitalism like a glove, and in the same way the homeless use drugs to make their shitty lives more bearable, it seems to me people are doing the same with phones. You can sleep anywhere if you're drunk, and you don't have to spend money by going out (goods and transport) if you have your phone/and/or services that popped up to support the interwebs 2.0.

tomcam 7y ago
How is the economy tanking?
- tzakrajs 7y ago
  For the lower and middle classes, expenses keep getting more expensey and wages seem not to budge. Incomes https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2018/10/16/u-s-household-incomes-a-51-year-perspective https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2018/10/1... Housing https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/24/home-prices-rising-faster-than-wages-report.html https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/24/home-prices-rising-faster-th... College Tuition https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has-increased-from-1988-to-2018.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has... Of course the economy for the millionaires and billionaires has been booming. A great time.
- tirpen 7y ago
  "The economy" is doing fine, but that's not a very interesting bunch of numbers for most people. The private economy of the majority US households has been getting steadily worse for decades.
- sdenton4 7y ago
  The article focuses on teens. What's a teenage summer job actually worth these days? It's not going to make any kind of dent in college tuition. And there really no need to get one if you aren't driving... (Which ties into other stats in the article.) I opted out of driving in the late 90s because getting a shite car to go to a shite job to pay for the shite car looked like a terrible deal. The pay at the dairy queen hasn't gotten much better in the last twenty years, and it sounds like the kids aren't seeing the value in the car as much as my peers did.

tomcam 7y ago

How is the economy tanking?

tzakrajs 7y ago
For the lower and middle classes, expenses keep getting more expensey and wages seem not to budge. Incomes https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2018/10/16/u-s-household-incomes-a-51-year-perspective https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2018/10/1... Housing https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/24/home-prices-rising-faster-than-wages-report.html https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/24/home-prices-rising-faster-th... College Tuition https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has-increased-from-1988-to-2018.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/how-much-college-tuition-has... Of course the economy for the millionaires and billionaires has been booming. A great time.
tirpen 7y ago
"The economy" is doing fine, but that's not a very interesting bunch of numbers for most people. The private economy of the majority US households has been getting steadily worse for decades.
sdenton4 7y ago
The article focuses on teens. What's a teenage summer job actually worth these days? It's not going to make any kind of dent in college tuition. And there really no need to get one if you aren't driving... (Which ties into other stats in the article.) I opted out of driving in the late 90s because getting a shite car to go to a shite job to pay for the shite car looked like a terrible deal. The pay at the dairy queen hasn't gotten much better in the last twenty years, and it sounds like the kids aren't seeing the value in the car as much as my peers did.