A lot of people here experienced the Good Old Days very differently than my family did, I guess

[SMC22307]

85. So the issue isn't so much the '70s, but living in an area (the South)...

with no jobs to match your parents' education? I understand not wanting to leave a support network, but it sounds as if there was opportunity in other areas.

I grew up in the Mid-Atlantic region and my experience is vastly different. My father, with his B.S. in Biology and Masters in Education, moved us from PA to the DC 'burbs. I still remember that day -- crying my eyes out at the Jolly Roger saying good-bye to grandparents! His father, an electrician, and mother, a homemaker, paid for all of his higher education. Life in these DC 'burbs was good and affordable. My public school employee father and medical assistant mother sent me to college debt-free. We lived in a Wonder Years-type neighborhood with community pools, tennis courts, soccer fields, and community centers. We enjoyed annual beach vacations and weekend getaways to historic sites. We weren't driving Audis or Jags, but Fords and Chevys, and my father maintained the cars as much as he could himself. And I NEVER heard my parents complain or worry about healthcare costs. And before anyone jump on me re: diversity, my little circle of friends was white, black, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian. The black and Indian women are medical doctors, the Mexican woman a college professor, and the Chinese woman owner of a very successful restaurant. We all attended state colleges. Family and friends lived similarly in PA, with parents working for the phone company, railroad, public school system, or mill (just to name a few). Very few had any college, let alone Masters degrees, and all retired with good pensions.

I wouldn't really refer to any decade as "the good ol' days" -- there's always good and bad. But these days with low wages, insanely priced housing, crushing college debt, and unfunded retirements are not better for most. We need a happy medium.