Boomers grieve not becoming grandparents–Millennials have little sympathy(independent.co.uk) |
Boomers grieve not becoming grandparents–Millennials have little sympathy(independent.co.uk) |
In my corner of the world, my own house was built and sold for $15,900 back in 1972. Minimum wage at the time was $2/hr, or $4,000/yr. That means a detached, 2,000ft² SFH on freehold land was only 4× minimum wage.
This is what allowed almost anyone, at almost any wage level, to own a home, a car in the garage, support a SAH spouse and two children, and still be able to take yearly vacations and save generously for retirement.
These days, that same home - 52 years old, now - is 28× minimum wage. A brand new detached SFH on freehold land, as per the above example? Just shy of 40× minimum wage.
To return to that 4× multiple, homes would have to drop by almost 85% in value, or minimum wage would have to be over $150/hr, or $300,000/yr. And the median wage in my region - not even MINIMUM wage!! - is $45,000/yr.
People aren’t going to start families when they don’t have stable and affordable housing to work with, much less the well-paying jobs that put a decent chunk of their labour’s value back into their pockets.