this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
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https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie
tl:dr; to actually afford the bare minimum costs of living in the US, the average family of 4 needs an income of of ~140k.
https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentiles/
Only the top ~29% of households in the US have that much income.
So uh, basically, 7/10ths chance the answer to the question is:
No, not unless you want to raise kids you can't actually afford to raise, provide with a decent childhood.
Wanted to do the rough math for Zürich out of curiosity. According to this website, the cost of living in Zürich for a family of four is about CHF 8500 and the median gross monthly wage in the region is CHF 7502 (for full-time employment?) according to the bfs, so it's pretty comfortable with two working parents. Even for the 10th percentile (CHF 4761 / month) it's probably doable, but you need to factor in that families with young children need to pay for daycare as well. But there are benefits and aids as well, so I'm not exactly sure how liveable that situation really is. Also, taxes might be harsh or not very, i don't know either. All I know is that sustaining a family of four with both parents earning a wage at the 10th percentile in Zürich is at least very stressful.
Also, I'm kinda sceptical about that cost of living calculation. That would equal around $130'000 a year which is lower than I would have guessed when compared to the $140'000 estimate for the USA, since cost of living in Switzerland and especially in Zürich are generally notoriously high.
TLDR: Most people in Switzerland are relatively well-off.
Interesting!
Would you know where to find just the average/median income of a household, instead of an individual?
That would be closer to the same rough math I'm doing with the US figures.
If you were to try to set this up for another scenario, not a family of 4, but say, a single mom or dad with one kid, well then all the numbers change significantly.
And yeah, the ... the whole mess of it is... who actually qualifies for what actual benefits, at what income levels?
A huge problem with the way the US is set up (the article goes into this) is that basically you end up with multiple glass ceilings that you have to break through.
You have to increase your income by substantial, not incremental amounts, for the net income gain to actually offset the benefits you now lose from only slightly breaching some income threshold.
So the whole system actually functions to disincentivize or punish people who... 'succeed' more... but not enough more.
Now, take that as your base scenario, and now... you tell me:
How much debt does it make sense for you to go into, to get a college degree, that... may or may not actually result in you either... staying at the same income level, only slightly breaching some threshold/glass ceiling, or perhaps, substantially breaching that threshold/glass ceiling?
Or not be from the us, like most people on earth.
Oh well I mean, I'm sorry I don't have the relevant data for... every country on earth, my bad.
What do those numbers look like for Chile?
EDIT:
... Also... Millenials and Gen Z are US-centric terms.
Their etymylogical origin derives from describing generations within the US.
What other country on earth has a mass shooting epidemic, predatory student loans and college costs crisis?
I think its reasonable to respond to a comic made by someone from the Los Angeles, that references US issues... with data relevant to the US.
Gen Z was coined by Canadian Douglas Coupland
Is a US dude extrapolating their thing to the whole world, as depicted in the comic lol.
And is a common sentiment in doomeristic older milennials worldwide.
We really need a good USdefaultism or ShitAmericansSay community on the threadiverse lol.