I guess I'm confused by your take then, and the evidence you use to support it. You stated "But you move up in your career just like everyone else does" from a 65-75K starting salary as a college grad, when your own figures show that the average household income is oftentimes comprised of two people making even less than that, but have reached the stage of upwards mobility to buy a house, albeit oftentimes "house-broke" and in strife to pay mortgages.
These people didn't move up, as per your assessment. Most people need to combine salaries with someone else to even have a fair chance in this system, to get any upwards mobility.
When I was single until I was 28, I didn’t even want a house. I wanted the flexibility of being able to move. In fact, I hated the maintenances of owning a single family home and as I mentioned in my first reply We downsized to a condo as soon as we could.
If you are single with no responsibilities but yourself in many major cities, you can make it off of $65K. Homeownership is not the only metric of success
People making less than that aren’t homeless and starving.
And the original person I replied to was in the top percentile of income according to him and considered “survival” not being able to live his current lifestyle.
What do you consider “making it” for a single person?
