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It is easier for the average person today to achieve the standard of living of the average person 10, 20, 30 years ago, and it would've been impossible for the average person 10, 20, 30 years ago to achieve the standard of living of the average person today due to things that are cheap now not even having been invented then.

But expenses expand to fill the available budget, so the actual cost of living is higher, as people earn more to spend more to get more.

(If you wish you had more free time but don't negotiate a pay cut in return for shorter work hours, it just means you value the money more than your time.)

>>yorwba+(OP)
I don’t think it is easier for the average person today to achieve the standard of living of the average person 10, 20, 30 years ago.

Housing is the biggest culprit. It has gone up something like 5x in the last 20 years, while salaries have increased maybe 20%.

>>Jambal+3J2
Sure, the value of housing has gone up a lot since 2004 (about 2.5×) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGZ1FL155035013Q

What people actually pay for it, though, in terms of mortgage payments as a share of income, is at basically the same level (6%) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MDSP

As long as people buy houses on credit, high house prices only reflect that mortgages are cheap.