5 ms·

I'm old enough to remember a time when both parents didn't work full time and the other parents in the neighborhood helped watch each others children from time

I'm old enough to remember a time when both parents didn't work full time and the other parents in the neighborhood helped watch each others children from time to time. It didn't cost much money, and the part time wages were plenty to cover a lot of expenses. Unfortunately, the value of our money was destroyed by politicians, and wages have been depressed for several decades due to economic policies in place.

war1025 7y ago
I hear this sentiment a lot, but as someone living the "one breadwinner, wife and three kids" life, it seems completely doable on tech job wages. You just have to adjust your lifestyle somewhat. People talk about how you used to be able to live on much less money, but they forget all the added conveniences people have. For example, my Grandma stayed home with my Dad and his seven siblings. But they also had an outhouse until he was in junior high. They also had a garden and lots of DIY improvisation knowledge. The way I like to think of my current family situation is that instead of calling my wife a "homemaker" or something traditional like that, I say she's "financially independent". We have enough money that she doesn't have to work. So she doesn't. So what if I have to work. We're halfway to freedom.
- linuxftw 7y ago
  The average tech wage today is comparable to everyone's average household income in 1980, relative to median home price in the US. Compare the S&P 500 relative to median income and we're even worse off. On one hand, working in the tech sector is not a bad place to be. On the other hand, we're no better off than the average person in 1980, relative to their peers. Minimum wage was $3.10 in 1980, it's just $7.25 today (federal). Seems we've done everything we can to destroy domestic labor over the last 40 years.
  - war1025 7y ago
    Maybe because I graduated college / entered the workforce through the peak of the recession, but I've found that I tend not to compare my living standard with those I grew up in nor those that my parents grew up in. Yes, I think we probably took several wrong turns along the way, but here is where we are, and I find that I am much more content with things if I just accept right now as my baseline. Compared to many (most?) of the people I associate with, I'm doing pretty darn well.
    - linuxftw 7y ago
      I'm generally content with my position in life, but I'm not content with where most people are.
cma 7y ago
When women entered the workforce en masse you had say 60% more workers, but still the same number of jobs. * That's around when wage stagnation started and seems to explain a lot of it. The answer should have been a shorter work week, more maternity/paternity leave, etc. * Of course some other jobs were created in the process, like more caretaker jobs, and other stuff happened like more automation.

war1025 7y ago

I hear this sentiment a lot, but as someone living the "one breadwinner, wife and three kids" life, it seems completely doable on tech job wages. You just have to adjust your lifestyle somewhat. People talk about how you used to be able to live on much less money, but they forget all the added conveniences people have. For example, my Grandma stayed home with my Dad and his seven siblings. But they also had an outhouse until he was in junior high. They also had a garden and lots of DIY improvisation knowledge. The way I like to think of my current family situation is that instead of calling my wife a "homemaker" or something traditional like that, I say she's "financially independent". We have enough money that she doesn't have to work. So she doesn't. So what if I have to work. We're halfway to freedom.

linuxftw 7y ago
The average tech wage today is comparable to everyone's average household income in 1980, relative to median home price in the US. Compare the S&P 500 relative to median income and we're even worse off. On one hand, working in the tech sector is not a bad place to be. On the other hand, we're no better off than the average person in 1980, relative to their peers. Minimum wage was $3.10 in 1980, it's just $7.25 today (federal). Seems we've done everything we can to destroy domestic labor over the last 40 years.
- war1025 7y ago
  Maybe because I graduated college / entered the workforce through the peak of the recession, but I've found that I tend not to compare my living standard with those I grew up in nor those that my parents grew up in. Yes, I think we probably took several wrong turns along the way, but here is where we are, and I find that I am much more content with things if I just accept right now as my baseline. Compared to many (most?) of the people I associate with, I'm doing pretty darn well.
  - linuxftw 7y ago
    I'm generally content with my position in life, but I'm not content with where most people are.

cma 7y ago

When women entered the workforce en masse you had say 60% more workers, but still the same number of jobs. * That's around when wage stagnation started and seems to explain a lot of it. The answer should have been a shorter work week, more maternity/paternity leave, etc. * Of course some other jobs were created in the process, like more caretaker jobs, and other stuff happened like more automation.