Will The Cost Of Living Make Us A Nation Of Singles?

[malamute]

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

You'd think that it would be cheaper to live in two's rather than single, yet a disproportionate number of young adults (18-31) are living at home with their parents:



Now combine this with the skyrocketing cost of living (e.g. going on a date: $100 movie/dinner) when the average wage is $10-12/hr. and one can see why guys are in a panic over not being able to get a GF---even if they could attract a nice girl how could they take her to their parent's house, let alone afford a nice hotel room?

I'm speaking generally here, but pointing toward a trend: it's getting more and more expensive to breathe. Will this society eventually force young people to just not be able to have kids, a nice home, and a decent quality of life?

I go out shopping and, granted I shop at Whole Foods, which a lot of people call "Whole Paycheck" and for good reason. It's rare I can walk out of there with maybe 7-8 items without spending $30-40. I just don't know how young couples with two kids are surviving if they aren't doctors, lawyers or similar professionals.

Can the younger ones around here who are clawing their way to the top (or trying to) relate to what I am saying here?

Well for one -- they probably skip that $100 movie/dinner and get a $5 pizza and watch something on Netflix or RedBox for $1.50.

Or you see a lot of dates at Starbucks where you spend $8 on a couple of coffees.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

The point I was trying to make in my OP, which I failed to do, is to make the observation that in the 50's-60's a husband could work a job while the wife stayed at home to raise tow-three kids; they could buy two autos, a house, put the kids through college and still have money to put away for retirement.

Fast-forward to 2010 and, on average, it's two working people living in a small apartment, one kid if they can afford it, the kid is on his own far as tuition goes, and scrimping just to buy the necessities. At some point each couple is going to have one of them unemployed for 6-months-3 years, which just makes things even harder.

It's definitely not our parents' America. It's a brave new, somewhat terrifying world out there for the Gen x'ers and it won't be a pretty sight 20-30 years from now.

Or they had one car -- but they also didn't have smart phones for each family member -- most likely they shared a single rotary dial phone. They ate most meals in the house -- no $15 meals several times a week. They didn't have to pay for internet and cable. Most likely they didn't have a $600 game player with new $65 games every week to purchose. They didn't have a high electric bill because few homes had air conditioners back then.

People today think nothing of how much their cell phone bill is, or how expensive video games have become. And the average 20 to 35 year old could not survive the typical lifestyle of the 1950s or 1960s. They would be shocked at how little people lived with back then.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

I think the biggest problem we have is expectations. People expect expensive weddings and all that stuff and when they can't afford that they say "We can't afford to get married". It's not really true. What they really mean is they can't afford to do it in the style to which they've been conditioned to expect as normal.

I think it's kind of ridiculous that the people in rich countries are the ones who say they can't afford to have kids and the people in poor countries are the ones having them. It just shows you it's more about expectations than anything else.

Good observation.

I have celebrated dozens of weddings where the total expenditure was less then $100. It is very easy to have a great wedding without spending much money.

[malamute]

I think the reason people don't get married is because the government will give them a lot more if they have kids without getting married. It gets harder and harder to be responsible when the single parents are given free housing with utilities paid, food stamps galore, WIC, free health care and much much more -- even a nice check for money they never earned from the IRS.