Economists say single-income households are a ‘bygone era’

Here’s the actual data

The sea change is from 1970 onward – and has a LOT to do with the huge incoming post WW2 baby boom.

We also see it in the labor force participation rate, which tracks the Baby Boom’s entrance in 1970 and exit beginning about 2008.

When home prices are normalized to square footage, the median income to home price ratio has been surprisingly constant over decades. Unfortunately media creative writers do not understand that homes of the past were 1,000 to 1,500 sq ft but today are averaging 2400 sq ft, which is down from a recent peak of almost 2700 sq ft. Homes of the past are not anything like homes of today. See The “Boomers” versus “Gen Z” today: the 60s/70s vs today – Coldstreams for why you cannot just compare home prices or car prices or much of anything across multiple decades.