I'm worse off than my parents

Jeremy Stein

I'm worse off than my parents.

This article is about how difficult middle class people have it now days compared to 20 years ago. It tells 6 stories that highlight this viewpoint. They are trying to show how bad the economy is right now and how much tougher it is nowadays to make a decent living. There is sort of a sense of doom about the whole thing.
The first story is about a 29 year old teacher who is living in a town home with her husband. They don't make enough money and are underwater on their mortgage with a high interest rate. She says that when her mother was her age she already had a house and was raising three kids. She wants a family too but her house is too small and she is stuck with it for another 10 years probably.
The second story is about an ex-student trying to pay off his college debt. He is 33 years old, works two or three jobs just to get by, lives in a rickety old house with a roomate. He says his parents didn't make as much as he is making, but everything was dirt cheap back then so they didn't have to. He has $30,000 in debt.
The next story is about a 32 doctoral student. She moved from Guyana and her father sent her and her siblings to college, bought a house, and had a car. She says just having a house is out of the option. She has done everything right, everything you are "supposed" to do to get ahead, but she doesn't see any results from her hard work.
The fourth story is about a 36 year old man and his daughter who are still living with his parents. He is a senior technician for an electrical company and he makes more than his father did, but his father had a 3 bedroom apartment, 2 cars, and would bring the family on a Cancun trip every summer. He says its tougher in this day and age to stay afloat. There seems to be a growing divide between the poor and the wealthy.
The next story is about a 50 year old man who is married and has four children. He and his wife both work in higher education. He says he cannot provide nearly as good of a life for his kids as his parents could provide for him. His dad didn't even complete high school but as the sole household income could provide for a family of four. He grew up in a 5 bedroom 4 bathroom house and his family had two cars.
The last story is about a 44 year old man who just bought a condo. His parents bought a house when they were 22. He is stuck working as an accountant for a small non-profit and does not make nearly enough to live comfortably. He says the problem is that all the jobs are going to recent college grads.