It’s most likely a mix of things. Life in US is really fucking expensive once you have a child and a home.
Our daycare for one kid is $1600. Same as mortgage, luckily we put down a large down payment and bought at low rates.
Also, if you have health issue, that also makes things pretty extreme. Healthcare is just brutal in US for low income people. Insurance can cost anywhere from $0 to $3000+. Depending on employment and family situation.
Personal finance education is also pretty bad. I know many people who are absolutely awful with finances and don’t do basic math. They don’t think how money can generate more money but what they can buy. 20% of luxury goods buyers are making under $50k. This isn’t always the case though.
If you make little money and don’t have connections it is really hard to get ahead. Once you start using credit cards and loans to eat and pay for housing the finance charges eat you alive.
I was pretty poor and even used food stamps when I went back to school in my 20s. It wasn’t until I made connections with people in high places when getting jobs and opportunities became easy. I’m lazier than I was before, I work less than I worked before, yet make much more money.
Part of it is that luxury goods have a wide variety of prices. A $100 watch might be classified as a "luxury good" or a $200 pair of earrings. Part of it is it was about buyers, not total purchases or dollar value.
The people who stretch to buy a pair of $300 jeans as a Christmas present are on equal footing in that statistic to the people who dress head to toe in Gucci and never wear the same thing twice.
So, yeah, 1/5 people buying a luxury good making it the item they splurge on while making under $50,000 is reasonable.
Our daycare for one kid is $1600. Same as mortgage, luckily we put down a large down payment and bought at low rates.
Also, if you have health issue, that also makes things pretty extreme. Healthcare is just brutal in US for low income people. Insurance can cost anywhere from $0 to $3000+. Depending on employment and family situation.
Personal finance education is also pretty bad. I know many people who are absolutely awful with finances and don’t do basic math. They don’t think how money can generate more money but what they can buy. 20% of luxury goods buyers are making under $50k. This isn’t always the case though.
If you make little money and don’t have connections it is really hard to get ahead. Once you start using credit cards and loans to eat and pay for housing the finance charges eat you alive.
I was pretty poor and even used food stamps when I went back to school in my 20s. It wasn’t until I made connections with people in high places when getting jobs and opportunities became easy. I’m lazier than I was before, I work less than I worked before, yet make much more money.