@That70sHouse said
There has been a huge lifestyle inflation which means people expect to be able to live a certain way that is honestly just not realistic. Not only do people on a “decent salary” expect to be able to have a nice secure home, nice car, nice food every week they also expect new furniture, nice interiors, a “done up” garden, holidays abroad every year, new clothes whenever they want them, days out, birthdays and Christmases full of presents and trips and activities, kids who never “miss out” and do several activities each with associated trips/kit/events, eating out, drinking out, coffees, lunches, iPhones, AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, netflix, Spotify, Amazon, gel nails, eyebrows, hobbies, spa breaks, several pairs of trainers and boots and heels and flats and handbags and and and and…
I think there is an element of truth in this.
Housing costs have gone up massively compared to wages, but a lot of discretionary spending seems to have increased. None of this is making a value judgement, it's just my perspective looking back almost 50 years.
When I was a kid (mid/late 70s, old enough to notice stuff), our local small town had a total of 13 food and drink outlets (pubs etc); it now has 25 plus a couple of vans. The population hasn't gone up to the same extent, so a lot of £££ is gong on coffees and takeaways.
Two car households were a rarity (looking at the data, about 10%), they are very common now (about a third). Homes in general were much lower spec (almost no one had a dishwasher, or a microwave; lots of people didn't have a freezer or central heating; one bathroom was the norm.) 'Home improvements' meant a can of paint or some new curtains, not a whole new bathroom or a conservatory. A lot of children had very limited wardrobes.
Nobody paid for pet insurance. Children's activities were very limited and most parents felt no obligation (and probably couldn't afford) to take DC miles for regular activities. Nobody felt that they 'had' to take the kids to Disney or Legoland, because Disneyworld and Legoland didn't exist. People travelled less (we lived less than two hours form central London, but loads of children in my year at primary school had never been; school felt no obligation to take us).
A stag night or a hen night were just that, an evening out, not a whole weekend to Amsterdam with special t-shirts and themed clothing. Weddings receptions were either in the church hall or a local hotel, and proceedings began at about 11 or 12 with the service and ended at about 4 or 5pm when the bride and groom drove away; it never crossed anyone's mind to oblige everyone to travel hundreds of miles for a long weekend.
Life was very different. The pressure to spend money wasn't the same, because things were either out of reach for ordinary mortals, or just didn't exist. So yes, lifestyle inflation is a thing - but I suspect a lot of families are screwed over by housing costs (and then because they need two incomes, by childcare fees) to such an extent that paying for a weekend to Disneyland Paris is a drop in the ocean.