I agree that it's important to compare anecdotes to available data, but we should be careful not to assume that the available data is itself "the forest." In ot

I agree that it's important to compare anecdotes to available data, but we should be careful not to assume that the available data is itself "the forest." In other words, the map is not the territory. While it's certainly possible that the sort of anecdotes commonly found in threads like this (regarding the challenges facing today's youth) are unfounded, I think it's more likely that they reflect qualitative changes not represented by the data (or, alternatively, changes which simply aren't represented by the particular data typically used in conjunction with analysis of these topics). Data showing that the median person earns more working fewer hours today than their parents did at the same age, for example, can't reflect (hypothetical, let's say) circumstances such as: * An increasingly competitive job market: Unemployment figures don't account for increasing education and experience requirements job-seekers face, nor do hours worked reflect time spent on career preparation in an era where high school students study for the SATs, college students are taught that "networking" is an essential skill, and college grads are more likely to have had multiple internships than their parents are to have had one between them. * Increasing career instability: Not only are single-employer careers long gone, but, for many, so are single-career lifetimes. Additionally, the increasingly bimodal distribution of incomes means that, while the median income may have increased, the consequences of falling out of a "good" career track can seem greater than they used to be. [1] For reference, 44% of Americans work in 'low-wage jobs' with a median income of ~ $18,000. [2] * Increases in the cost of living that counteract income gains: Rent, housing prices, (more-important-than-ever) higher education, healthcare & childcare have all increased significantly over recent decades, which likely makes it difficult for many to feel as wealthy as one would suspect. Considering circumstances like these helps me understand how many may feel much worse than real median income might suggest and makes it seem less strange that young people appear to be poorer than their parents were at the same age - living with their parents longer into adulthood, buying fewer homes, getting married later, having fewer children, etc... I would also speculate that, in terms of perception alone, the rise of social media and increasing economic inequality (with specific regard to the research suggesting that individual well-being is more closely linked to low inequality than absolute levels of economic welfare) could negatively impact the average American's perception of their quality of life. 1 - https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/ https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-... 2. - https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2019/11/21/low-wage-work-is-more-pervasive-than-you-think-and-there-arent-enough-good-jobs-to-go-around/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2019/11/21/low-wag...