Bidets are great to be fair!
Literally no one paid that top tax bracket, there were plenty of loopholes just as there are today. As a whole we paid far less taxes back then. Only one member of the household had to work to afford a car, house, multiple children etc. quality of life for the middle class was much better back then in almost all aspects.
Consumer credit is what has made autos and almost everything else unaffordable. Debt slaves are easier to control. As electric eliminator said cheap money got people accustomed to getting everything they want today without saving for it. That same cheap credit caused the mess were in today and will ultimately lead to serious financial pain for our future generations as inflation erodes any generational wealth
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My parents and grandparents undoubtedly enjoyed a (generally) 1 income, wide use of credit and better âmiddle classâ life than do those in the âmiddle classâ now.
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You could easily live just as comfortably as they did on one salary now. You just need to live like they did (on Average- maybe your family was more affluent). One car per household, kids donât go to college, no air conditioning in a 1200 square foot house and donât avail yourself of any medical care not available in the 1950s.
I was fortunate enough to see where my wifeâs parents grew up in early 1960s before the family sold. They lived on the husbandâs salary as a train conductor. They had seven people in a 1000 square foot three bedroom one bathroom house. And this was the upgrade after they fled Manhattan.
The difference today is income stratification. Even lower middle class has a higher quality of life (although they are less happy) than in 1950s.
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My wifes parents are both 1 of 11. Single income middle class blue collar families. That would be impossible today. I believe everyone of her aunts and uncles went to college as well, likely with no debt, just summer jobs to pay tuition. Thereâs just little to no upward mobility for most kids today that arenât born into wealth. Of course thereâs exceptions but in general thatâs the case. Most would be better off not going to college if they donât receive large scholarships, or study fields that are high paying.
I paid around $6-7k a year for my undergrad at pennstate. Of campus housing was another 3000/yr, shared a bedroom in a 5br house with others. Today just housing would be close to 12k a year and tuition is currently close to $20k a year.
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Isnât happiness the basic epitome of QOL? Some estimates state that up to 25% of adults 25-50 are on some form of antidepressant.
Taking away infant mortality we donât even live longer now. So I would argue that a simpler life with less âthingsâ equates to more happiness. Unfortunately tech and marketing instills so much unneeded want and selfishness. Back in the 50s you didnât really know how the upper class lived bc it wasnât flaunted constantly.
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Penn State Alumni!! Nice 
Ya off campus housing at main for me was 600/month in a 4 bedroom 2 bath (lived 15 mins away off campus). Tuition certainly has increased lol
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Now you get into sensitive areas. Why does every measure we take show Scandinavians being far happier than we are. And they live live much longer than us, even when you look people of similar ethnic make up in say Minnesota vs Sweden/Norway.
Also the difference was far less. Whatever the reason, income disparity has grown tremendously over the past 70 years. The upper class in the 1950s was a relatively small group that mostly had their money from a time before 90% income tax rates and 25% cap gain tax rates.
And they were mostly concentrated in New England and Mid-Atlantic.
Scandinavians have the highest use of anti depressants in the world so I guess theyâre too drugged up to realize misery?
The longer life has to do 100% with diet. Obesity rates are far lower.
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Iâve never used one, so Iâll take your word for it. But would you mention that to everyone at a Zoom meeting? I think notâŚ
Not even close.
If you would adjust what my grandfather made for inflation, as well as what my father made with inflation again factored in it would by leaps and bounds put you behind where they were in todayâs dollars and how they lived. It is math and irrefutable, along with the lack of pensions, 100% employer-paid healthcare and other factors.
Before Elizabeth Warren lost her mind completely, she and her daughter wrote a fascinating book about how we have come to this point regarding the middle class vs. what it was historically. It is called the âTwo Income Trapâ (2004) and it definitely is worth the read:
Also worth the read - âNickeled and Dimedâ
Show the math. Remove all modern expenses from a budget and figure the budget out for an average family of four in 1950.
I do concede that some things would be much more expensive now, mainly the things that used to be paid for mostly with taxes such as higher education and a lot of mental health treatment. For these areas we have shifted the burden from affluent taxpayers to end consumers. The reason @Jrouleau426 paid 6k-7k at Penn State while the tuition is now $18k in state is that Pennsylvaniaâs support for PSU is about the same now as it was in the 1990s.
Of course, in the 1950s the vast majority of people didnât go to college so that isnât an issue.
Inflation is the biggest tax you pay, and it hits everyone not invested in hard assets.
As per usual, some are more equal than others. 
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Read the books, where the math (inflation-adjusted earnings, CPI as adjusted, etc.) is laid out for you along with the obvious facts.
Agreed. Also love the AF reference as well.
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I think it has more to do with all the universities becoming a business and having to build the biggest and best gyms, dorms etc to attract kids to continue to pay more and more. also govt writing 18 yr olds a blank check with no credit history also leads to higher tuition costs.
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