Re: are you living better than your parents did?

I don't know. I would say I am doing about the same they were at my age. My mom was a SAHM with me, which I know I would not be able to do if I had a 1 year old right now, but they were trying to buy a house and were just as scared as I am righ now.

Re: are you living better than your parents did?

Um yes. At 29, my mom was divorced for 3 years and had 2 kids under 10. She put herself into the workforce with no education and supported us.

Re: are you living better than your parents did?

i think we make more money than they did at our age, BUT the cost of living was so much less then that i think our livestyles are pretty close. . my dad worked a blue collar job in the greenhouses at campbell soup, growing their vegetables and stuff, and my mom was working for sears in bookkeeping/personnel. they had a 3 bedroom house in a decent neighborhood and my mom was pregnant with me.
we have a small 2 bedroom, 1 bath rancher house that we will need to upgrade before we even think about having kids. i do think we have more "stuff" than they did at our age- a have a brand new hooked up SUV and we have a big TV and we go out to eat a lot, things like that...
Now, DHs parents on the other hand, i think we are doing much better than they were at our age. DHs dad was just starting out as a professional pilot, trying to get into one of the commercial airlines, so they moved around a lot... DHs mom told me the other week that when she was pregnant with him, they didn't even have a bed to sleep on!! they were sleeping on cushions on the floor!!! i cant even imagine that!

Re: are you living better than your parents did?

Yes and no. We make more money than they did, but with the cost of living, it doesn't go as far. They owned a house by the time they were in their late 20s--we're a good 10-15 years older and just about to buy a house.

I think I have more choices and more freedom than my mother ever did, so in that way I would say I'm better off than she was. We're both healthier also, I would say.

The thing that they definitely had much better was working hours. I remember we were all home and had dinner by 6:00 or 6:30 generally. DH and I often get home at 8 or later, and eat around 9. My dad had to work long hours a few times a year (and got paid for the overtime). My mom was a SAHM until I was 11, which won't happen for us. So in free time, they were better off than us.