&gt;<i>I don&#x27;t understand what you&#x27;re saying</i><p>That&#x27;s because you use &quot;quality of life&quot; as if it meant purchase power or access to gadgets.<p>And even that&#x27;s wrong -- people in the 50s could support a family of four&#x2F;five and get their kids to college with a single office job. Present day middle class, not so much.<p>In fact it has been shown time and again that wages have been stagnating (when corrected for inflation) since the seventies or so.