To be honest, the average American in the 70's couldn't afford that house, car, clothes, etc. but the minimum bar to "keep up with the Joneses" was much lower and, in particular, realistically achievable for the family of a typical working-man. House might have been a bit run-down, car might not always have been perfectly reliable, but you were making it. Not even conceivable today, no matter how bargain-basement you're willing to go. The whole economy is now a DINK economy. Only people that can actually afford to have children are trust-fund babies and they refuse to breed because it's "low class"! Absolute demographic warfare...