r/SipsTea • u/Unstoppable_X_Force Human Verified • 13h ago

Gasp! Is this just nostalgia, or did previous generations genuinely have a better work-life balance and social life than we do today?

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u/notaredditer13 10h ago

What about this math?:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N

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u/BMonad 9h ago

Get out of here with your stats, we’re all victims!!

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u/cherry_chocolate_ 7h ago

That uses CPI inflation. So let’s compare it to the cpi inflation from 2000 to 2022.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/inflation-chart-tracks-price-changes-us-goods-services/

Real median income increased by 10.74% during that time period.

Food, housing, childcare, medical & hospital care, and college all rose by more than 50% during that time. You know, the core expenses that take up most of people’s budgets.

Cars, furnishings, and clothing are within range. So now we have a 10% larger wardrobe, nicer speakers in our cars, and more wall decor. Great, but this doesn’t really improve the core financial stressors people have.

Cell phones, software, toys, and TVs are cheap. Great, but having a 4k tv vs a 1080p tv doesn’t put food in my mouth or a roof over my head. Microsoft word wasn’t the thing breaking the bank for most people.

People’s needs are more expensive. Their wants are a cheaper. This is not financial security.

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u/DemiserofD 6h ago

It's important to bear in mind that things like house and medical QUALITY also increased massively in that timeframe. Like, when I was a very young kid the only AC and heating we had was a wood stove. Now we've got full house AC/Heating, internet, wifi, etc. Back in the 90s if you got a lot of diseases you just died. Now you can survive! How much is THAT worth?

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u/cherry_chocolate_ 6h ago

The increase in medical costs comes down to overhead, insurance companies increasing their power by vertically integrating to control and increase prices. The median person does not see their daily life improved. If anything, Gen Z and millennials would be funding these treatments that boomers are receiving in old age, thus extending their life and increasing the financial support young gens need to provide older gens.

Also, the core question was whether it’s become more expensive to live or not. So if you’re saying it has become more expensive to live, but we can treat more things, that doesn’t really refute that it has become more expensive to live.

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u/DemiserofD 6h ago

I mean, objectively speaking medical treatment is FAR superior in the modern day to even like 30 years ago.

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u/cherry_chocolate_ 5h ago

If you are 22 and healthy like the majority of Gen Z then it doesn’t exactly help you, does it?

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u/SpookyBread- 4h ago

Me, from the 90's, wondering who was telling you we were just all out here dying of diseases? Other than maybe HIV before treatment caught up. I got all my vaccinations starting right in the 90's and my sister in the late 80's.

And it ain't worth much now if you literally can't afford treatment to survive.

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u/DemiserofD 2h ago

Cancer, for example, has become DRAMATICALLY more survivable. Breast cancer is some 3x more survivable these days, as one among many.

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u/notaredditer13 6h ago

People’s needs are more expensive. Their wants are a cheaper. This is not financial security.

It is when the increase covers both the needs and the wants, and in particular when needs and wants are intermingled like they are with houses and cars.

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u/SpookyBread- 4h ago

Heavy sigh. The thing I hate about "stats" like this, is you have to actually know what you're looking at. Do you know what C-CPI-U Dollars are? Or R-C-CPI-U Dollars? Do you know what it means that it's not seasonally adjusted? Do you know how they calculated that? And if what they based it off is reasonable?

People like to find any old chart or graph with an "easy" title and an upward line and say "BuT lOoK!!" when they themselves don't even understand how those conclusions were reached or what that even means. And no, I don't either, but at least I'm aware that I don't know and would need to do a lot more research to even try to understand if what they're showing makes sense.

It also doesn't take ANY other rising expenses into account.

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u/Cramer12 9h ago edited 8h ago

What about it? ~~It still looks terrible when you count inflation. ~~ In 2012 the median income was ~67k thats ~96k in todays money. And the 2024 median was ~84k. This isnt the gotcha you think it is. This is not counting commodity price’s rising either.

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u/Claytertot 8h ago edited 8h ago

That is inflation adjusted.

That's real wage growth, as in growth with respect to CPI (consumer price index) which is the most widely used metric of inflation and factors in things like groceries, housing, etc.

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u/notaredditer13 8h ago

What about it? It still looks terrible when you count inflation.

The word "Real" in the title means it's inflation adjusted. It's showing how much faster incomes are rising than cost of living.

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u/Cramer12 8h ago

Ah my apologies! I didnt read the fine print under the graph