Comparing living standards across generations

It is well acknowledged that as we move along the aspiration treadmill, goods and services previously considered "luxuries" become "necessities". Economix points to the findings from a Pew Research Center survey, whose findings are shown below.




Part of the reason for this transformation in attitudes has been the steep drop in prices of many technology related consumer electronics products.



As Economix says, these developments have generated a debate about how inter-generational living standards should be compared. One group attributes greater weightage to these changes and says living standards have improved, while otheres claim that the gains in these have been offset by faster rising costs of health care etc.