Many METARs are (ahem) older and may have lost sight of the changing stresses on middle class families.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/why-everything-feels-more-expensive-c6d216a8?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
Why Everything Feels More Expensive
Middle-class Americans have more income than they did 50 years ago, but the squeeze is real.
By Roland Fryer, The Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2026
…
Since 1975, median family income has risen by more than half, from about $68,000 to $106,000 in inflation-adjusted terms—a gain of roughly $38,000. But much of the difference comes from one of the most important social shifts of the past half-century: Labor-force participation among married mothers rose from about 45% in 1975 to 72% in 2025.
But for families with young children, much of that $38,000 gain is spoken for before it ever hits the bank account. A year’s worth of mortgage payments, adjusted for inflation, has risen from about $16,000 in 1975 to $25,000 in 2024, an increase of $9,000. Workers now contribute about $7,000 a year in premiums for family health insurance, roughly double the real cost in 1999. Full-day care for a single child typically runs $6,500 to $15,500, depending on age and location, a cost most families in the 1970s didn’t incur. Add it up and these three expenses absorb most of the $38,000 gain, leaving many families—especially those with young children or in high-cost cities—with roughly the same disposable income their parents had, despite earning more.
The culprit is structural, not political: Economists call it Baumol’s cost disease. Productivity gains tend to concentrate in goods—cars, clothing, televisions, food—as technology steadily drives prices down. But many services, like teaching a kindergarten class, change little over time. As incomes rise, wages must rise across the board; otherwise employees leave for higher-paying sectors. Labor-intensive services grow more expensive not because something went wrong, but because everything else became more productive… [end quote]
Goods inflation fell because of cheap imports and increased efficiency due to the development of robots and computers. But services inflation – medical care, insurance, child care, education – continued to inflate faster than goods inflation.
Now that most mothers are working the cost of child care eats up a large part of the extra income. And families with two workers are one job loss away from disaster.
Real disposable income rose steadily but a lot of it is incorporated into daily life which we take for granted. It’s not fun to spend more on insurance, medical and child care. Meanwhile, home ownership is out of reach for many.
Wendy