<p>I doubt this forum is very representative of Americans in general: we have more education on average, probably higher SES growing up and definitely higher SES than the general population. </p>
<p>I’d love to read this book because it doesn’t seem to match my expectations based on observation at all: I look all around and see ‘stupid’ wealth: fancy multiple cars, flatscreen TVs, toys and more toys, and way bigger houses even on limited incomes…all so much more than existed back when we were growing up, when one TV, one car, one vacation, home cooking, and 1500 sqft was good enough for most. </p>
<p>But to answer your question, both H and I are astronomically better off than our parents. We oddly share a similar history yet i think we are both unusual.</p>
<p>Both grew up with very little. Working class parents with only HS education, small homes, not-so-hot neighborhoods, so-so public schools. </p>
<p>Our parents were probably in maybe the 15th-20th percentile in income. We are in the 99th. We managed to ‘move’ up by fluke: both happened to be gifted kids (for no known reason), and personalities that worked well for “excelling in school”. There was always at least one teacher looking out for us, and we got scholarships and such to cover college and eventually got MBAs and then PhDs. Our siblings didn’t have the same luck though they are at least as well off as their families of origin.</p>