Hi Alice, I agree with you to a point. No doubt about it, past generations
generally did a better job budgeting money and perhaps raising their
children as well. But let's consider three other factors that explain why
this is so.
1. The Great Depression. Alice, your parents and mine had vivid memories
of a very difficult time with 25 percent unemployment and lots of poverty.
My dad was very good at budgeting, maybe too good. On the positive side, he
never used a credit card and the only loan he ever signed onto was the
mortgage on his house. On the bad side, he made life tougher on my poor mom.
WE didn't own a clothes dryer until the early 1970's. when I was a kid, I
thought only rich people owned clothes dryers. He never took my mom out on a
date. In the last two years of high school when I had money, I used to take
my mom out for dinner, usually for Chinese food which my dad abhorred. But,
for the most part, my dad was far wiser than I when it comes to money. When
I started going out with Donna, I'd be Mr. big spender at times when I got
money. My dad's favorite thing to say to me at those times was: "A fool and
his money are soon parted." I used to scoff at that one, but he was right. I
lived beyond my means for many years, rarely had an emergency nest egg and
using credit cards to cover such expenses. Part of that was because I had
terrible luck in finding good jobs. I came in second place for three decent
jobs which probably would have improved my financial situation. When things
got really tough for Donna and I a few years ago we had to declare
bankruptcy.
2. A comparison of society back in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's to now
inform us that there is now way more advertising pressure to get that credit
card, buy that new gadget, keep up with the Joneses etc. How many families
owned more than one vehicle before let's say 1970? Americans go out to eat
way more often now than in past generations. IN my dad's time, vacation
meant day trips or maybe the extravagance of a weekend trip to Northern New
England or the Cape. My first ride on an airplane took place just after high
school when I got my first guide dog. Nowadays, many of our children have
been to Disneyworld.
3. I may get labled Mr. Conservative for this one, but here goes. In past
generations, one parent stayed at home when the children were young. In some
cases, both paretns keep working truly out of economic necessity and this is
more and more the case, over the last 30 years given the tremendous income
inequality and the eroding wages of the average working person. But in other
cases, the second parent works so that the family can take grander
vacations, maybe own a vacation home, drive fancier cars, etc. Sometimes I
cringe when I see badly behaved children out in public. I'd say this is far
more common today than it was back in the 1960's and 1970's. I often wonder
if this would be the case in an environment where one parent stays at home
until the child is in fourth or fifth grade. Perhaps the child would go to
preschool for 3 days a week or for half days. And, certainly the stay at
home parent need not be the mother.
No doubt, it is too simplistic to say that life was better back in the day
than it is today. We have seen tremendous advances in technology. Many women
of today fare much better economically. than their mothers and grandmothers.
Bob Hachey
