• Young people earn 20% less than previous precious generations did—despite being better educated (
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/05/mil...han-boomersdespite-being-better-educated.html )
• Cost of college has gone up at 8 times the rate of wages (
https://www.forbes.com/sites/camilo...lmost-8-times-faster-than-wages/#6ba328a466c1 )
• There is not one single state in the United States where a full-time, just-above-minimum-wage job can support a 1 bedroom apartment.
• Student loans now make up the largest chunk of non-housing debt in America, and many "entry level" jobs now require a degree. (
https://www.finder.com/student-loans-account-for-36-35-of-non-housing-debt )
• Cost of living is up 300% or more since the 1970s but wages are only up 50-70%.
• The Census reports that the average price of a new home in June 1998 was $175,900. According to inflation, that price today for a new home should be $271,931. The same report places the average sale price for June 2018 at $368,500, however, more than 35% higher than the price when accounting for inflation alone.
• A gallon of gas in 1994 cost $1.06, making it $1.64 in June 2014, when adjusted for inflation. The actual national average price, as of July 2018, is $2.88 – 75% higher than what it would be if inflation were the only cause for the increase.
• The median household income in 1998 was $38,885. The most recent year with full data available is 2017, so adjusting for inflation as of that year gives a median income of $58,487. The Bureau of Census reports that the actual median 2017 income was $59,000 – higher than the adjusted figure, but not by very much, and certainly nowhere near the percentage that prices have outpaced inflation.
• If the minimum wage had increased with CEO pay since the 1970's, it would now be at 33$ an hour.
According to the Social Security Administration (SSA)(
https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2018) which tracks net income numbers after taxes through the Average Wage Index (AWI):
-33 percent of all American workers make less than $20,000 a year.
-46 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year.
-58 percent of all American workers make less than $40,000 a year.
-67 percent of all American workers make less than $50,000 a year.
Approximately two-thirds of all American workers are making $4,000 or less a month.
According to Forbes (
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfr...to-paycheck-government-shutdown/#1adadff14f10) 78% of workers live paycheck to paycheck and more than 1 in 4 workers do not set aside any savings each month.
CNBC reports (
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/17/a-t...adults-cant-cover-a-400-dollar-emergency.html) One-third of middle-income adults don't have enough savings to cover an unexpected $400 expense without selling something or borrowing money.
So if I wager a guess I'd have to say crippling student debt, stagnant wages, and rising costs of living. That's not even discussing social media contributing to widespread alienation, or the pandemic wreaking havoc on people's social lives and well being.
...or maybe
@ctb is right and it's all just astrology... definitely astrology...