Here is my observation, and opinion. I am 63 years old and grew up in the 1960's and 70's. Back then, one parent;'s income could support a family. They wouldn't be wealthy but they had all they needed. We could go on vacations, have plenty of food on the table but still had to watch our money. That lasted well into the 1970's, a few years past when Richard Nixon removed the Dollar from the Gold Standard in 1971.
Now, most families have both parents working to support the same standard of living. People can argue all day day long about inflation, recessions, value of the Dollar and the economy but there is no doubt that we work harder, longer with both parents working to live the same standard of living we did back 50 years ago. All of that began to change a few years after 1971 when we went off the gold standard.
Our dollar today has nothing but consumer confidence and the Fed's manipulation to maintain its value. Before, we had gold in Fort Knox to back up the value of every dollar.