A friend recently made the statement that ”our generation (born in the ‘30’s) is that last generation that could expect to achieve the American Dream on one salary.” I think he was wrong. It isn’t that the economics have changed so much, but that the “American Dream” has changed. When I grew up, the American Dream consisted of owning a 1,000 sq. ft. house with a one car garage. Now the American Dream house is at least 2,000 sq. ft. with a three car garage and a car in each garage. The lifestyle we have become accustomed to is going to be increasingly more difficult to achieve. I’m afraid that a lot of our grandchildren are going to be disappointed.
I agree - people's dreams now have gotten too big. Not only that, use to be to acquired big name things as you grew older. The big house you moved up to (if at all), you slowly added another car, the big stereo, big screen TV, etc, all came in time. Now, they want it 'now'. So they go out and buy on credit. I really think for many they do not see much of a future. For others they only saw their parents giving them every thing they wanted - they didn't have to wait or earn it. In many ways the baby boomers have created this current thinking. They somehow thought it was wrong to make kids wait or earn it.
Around 1990 McDonald's opened a store in Bellevue, WA (a town of upper income). They couldn't find any local kids to work in the store, so they bussed people in to work. The local teenagers did not want to work - didn't need to. Their parents would give them money to stay out of their 'hair'.
Result of the accumulation of the change in thinking and behavior is it now takes two incomes (most of the time).
We raised 5 children. DH was born in 1926 and I was born in 1931. All of our children are 'baby boomers.' I was a stay-at-home mom most of the time. Did some part-time work here and there.
Our children all had some kind of a job. Our daughter did baby-sitting and took care of neighbor's cats and dogs. The boys had paper-routes, picked blueberries, worked odd jobs--mowed lawns, painted fences, etc.
They had to tythe 10%, save 10% and the rest was theirs. If they earned $1.00, they got to spent the 80 cents any way they wanted. Whoopee.
As a result, ours don't have too much of a sense of entitlement. But, that doesn't prevent one of their wives from wanting everything right now.
I have to say that I must be very lucky with my kids. We were never wealthy but didn't really go without anything important. We had hard times when my daughter (now 27) was born and then 4 1/2 years later when my son (now 22) was born. Each time I got pregnant my husband was laid off of work from GM. The first time he was laid off for slow down work and the second time was when his plant closed (he always jokingly said we couldn't have a third because the world would end that time). Our kids always worked at some kind of part time job while they were in high school and never expected us to give them everything they wanted. Neither had their own car either.
driving by the local high school last week I noticed more new cars than the local car dealership had on their lot,I know they didn't belong to the teachers because most were NEW cars,makes ya wonder where its gonna end doesn't it?
I wonder about those restaurants myself. There was an ad on TV tonight where a woman was packing her own lunch two days a week and she figured she saved $500 a year.
I tried to figure that out in my head. I fixed DH's lunch EVERY day for 38-1/2 years. I also fixed 5 kids' lunches 5 days a week (they got to eat school lunch when they served ice cream--about once every other week). And then when I did work, I carried my own lunch.
It got to be too tedious to figure out in my head but they way I look at it, I saved a boatload of money and I think I'd like to collect it now. (joke) But, seriously, HOW in the H---- can people afford to buy lunches and go out to dinner when they are so fr in debt.