Is it realistic back in 1970 that Mike was able to support a stay-at-home wife, six kids, and a housekeeper on an architect's salary?
shareI wrote that the house had an ensuite. That's a bathroom attached to a bedroom, which Mike and Carol had.
shareYes, my mom stayed home and so did all of my friend's moms. We lived in a big house and my father wasn't an architect, he was a school administrator. One thing was that credit was much harder to come by, so people didn't live in debt, they lived within their means. Home loans were 10 and 15 years, not 30. Because of that, my folks were only in their late 30's when they had our first house paid off. No house payment (and never a car payment - always cash) by 38. It's a lot easier to save money in that situation obviously. My father said by the late 70's he was sticking away $1k every month and earning 10% - 12% daily compounded interest on it. Yep, back in the day the middle class actually thrived.
sharethat and real estate wasn't as high as it is now.
I bought my apartment 7 years ago for 230 grand. same size as my neighbors... my neighbor bought her apartment in the 80's for 25 grand. and she had that in cash.
Also... has anyone ever thought of life insurance for the first mrs brady?
Oh God. Fortune vomits on my eiderdown once more.
It's strange how times have changed! My parents had two kids, and when my dad got out of the air force they bought their first home, it was custom built and it was HUGE. Huge lot, which I had the displeasure of having to mow LOL! My dad worked for the railroad and he was always having to work out of town, going from Spokane where we lived, over to Montana, Idaho, then to Seattle. So my mom stayed home because that's what he wanted her to do. It was nice to have a home cooked meal every night and someone there all the time in case we got sick or something. My mom couldn't really call my dad in Montana and tell him one of the kids had a doctor appointment so he had to take them! It was a different situation, everyone thought my parents were divorced! But I don't remember them having to pay as many bills as my household does now. We both work but it's still hard sometimes at the end of the month, but I wouldn't have to be in as much debt I just make bad decisions sometimes then have to struggle until I have something paid off. At least they had Alice so if they went out they didn't really need to hire a babysitter, could you imagine that cost? Or daycare for 6 kids, although Greg and Marcia were just about old enough in the beginning to watch the other kids. And good point about life insurance as well. Maybe Mike used it to pay off the house if he had a mortgage!
shareYep.
My parents bought a 4 bedroom colonial on 1.25 acres in a commuter suburb on Long Island in 1969 for under 50K.
It was completely middle class. School admins, a professor, an engineer, businessmen, etc.
They sold it in 2001 for 10X that--houses in that neighborhood now go for $750K to $1M. It is not middle class anymore.
The whole dynamic of salary versus what you could afford was totally different years ago. One of my uncles worked in a book distribution warehouse for years, basically as a laborer. He married and raised two daughters and also owned a small house on the pay he made. Nowadays, you probably couldn't get a one bedroom apartment.
shareYes.
An architect can make decent coin, and in 1970, six kids wasn't THAT unusually large. I was one of five and knew of quite a number of families with 5-8 kids. Most had stay at home moms and middle class incomes. Maybe not a live in housekeeper, but I would think that an architect with a rack record would be making an upper middle class income.
Plus Carol was turning tricks on the side.
Maybe one or both of the parents was the beneficiary of an inheritance (or alimony and child support) which helped the family finances.
share