> Their childhoods were spent with memories of a backyard pool and frequent vacations—because they were ten and their parents were forty-five. These kids might

> Their childhoods were spent with memories of a backyard pool and frequent vacations—because they were ten and their parents were forty-five. These kids might have grown up considering themselves “middle class” when they were actually safely upper middle class. Their parents, not wanting to be unseemly, probably told them they were middle class. Twenty-somethings who grew up kinda rich probably don’t yet have the money their parents did, and this can be confusing if they were led to believe they had a modest upbringing. My parents could not afford the house they own if they had to buy today, even with their now-end-of-career salaries, at current market prices—never mind with their starting salaries (and my mom was only working part-time when they bought it). Quality of life has improved in many ways over the last 20-30 years (tech, medicine, etc), but wage increases have not kept up with cost of living in many sectors.