"For a typical worker, that would mean earning $100,000 less over the 18-year period." The biggest purchase the typical worker will make is a house purchase. A

"For a typical worker, that would mean earning $100,000 less over the 18-year period." The biggest purchase the typical worker will make is a house purchase. Assuming "typical" means median, and assuming (big assumption) that the median worker buys a median house on a married two-income household, the median household is losing around $200,000. The median house price in the United States is $220,000. The median college graduate family for the class of 2009, when they hit their forties, will be behind their expectations by about a house. Ouch.