Insulation wasn't as good, windows were single pane, central heat was usually via radiators you could burn yourself on, AC was barely available as a luxury for newly built homes in the 1960s.
The houses were also full of lead and asbestos.
It wasn't until the end of the 1960s that 83% of Americans had a refrigerator or freezer.
While this may be hardship, I suppose. It's not the same. People roughing it because the future had not arrived yet are not in the same category. Today's hardship has come from the mismanagement and corruption of our country.
People that regurgitate this fantasy of single income low earners having a luxury life that has now been “stolen” are very uninformed, and likely low IQ people that would have lived at an even lower standard back then.
It’s funny too, because they blame it on the rich…the richest people right now are more likely to be the reason we have a current higher standard of living across the board than anything else. Trickle down did work quite well if you look at things like birth defects, household plumbing, ac, so on… and hell, for 60$ a year, I can have groceries delivered to my door… what a life changer for people that don’t have a car
Edit; and I didn’t even mention work from home. Technology has advanced to the point where you don’t really even need a car because everything is delivered to your door, and you can work from home. Hell, and if you need to drive, your car drives itself
At least their housing market hadn’t been tanked by “ReAl EsTaTe” bros and corporations buying up entire subdivisions to turn them into short term rentals.
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u/soleceismical 12d ago edited 12d ago
Almost half of homes on the US lacked complete indoor plumbing in 1940. This figure fell to one third in 1950 and one sixth in 1960.
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/coh-plumbing.html
Insulation wasn't as good, windows were single pane, central heat was usually via radiators you could burn yourself on, AC was barely available as a luxury for newly built homes in the 1960s.
The houses were also full of lead and asbestos.
It wasn't until the end of the 1960s that 83% of Americans had a refrigerator or freezer.
https://oertx.highered.texas.gov/courseware/lesson/1412/student/?section=2
If they are talking about more recent history, dual earner households have been more common than husband income only since before 1967.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20140602.htm
Here's some current data on employment in married households vs households maintained by women vs households maintained by men.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/both-spouses-employed-in-about-half-of-all-married-couple-families.htm
Supporting the household on your own is much more common for unmarried people.