The American dream was stolen, replaced with cheaply made inferior goods to hide the theft. I remember back in the early 90's my wife (with our new baby) were able to stay home. That was enough for all of our bills and a nice social life of concerts, fairs, dining etc. Nowadays double that is barely making it, heaven help you, better hope you have a credit card.
They have many now 1 or 2 paychecks away from bankruptcy/homelessness. Turns out the dreamers who write the script for most care very little how well people can live.
Yeah, times have changed. A lot is better, and a lot is worse... Aaron Russo said bringing in women to the workforce made more for taxes and made the salaries spread out more or something...