I heard it on the radio? Is that real? All I know is lot of items went up but my pay more than tripled in that period
Fuel tripled too!
Electronic went down 10X!
Houses cost more!
Interest rate is lower!
Travel costs are lower!
I think then I had nothing left in my pocket at the end of the fortnight!
Now I can save and take trips abroad at least once a year.

20 years ago i had

$100 in my batman piggie bank
mum paid all the bills
mum cook, clean and drove me around
school lunch was $5 with a drink
my weekend entertainment was cheaper ( play station 24/7)

now i am , Broke from bills, night out cost more then they should, and fuel is a bloody $1.50 per L .

i was more financially better 20 years ago

20 years ago I worked for my parents 6 days 60 hrs a week and got paid $250 per week .I now work for myself 7 days per week 60 hrs a week for $300 per week (but I own my business can see $500 per week just over the horizon).Financial Progress for me ?not sure .Leaving the car in the garage permanently and drinking cheap spirits made from potato peels helps .
Scruffy tradesman complains about $5 double egg and bacon roll this morning being too expensive ,told Mr $45 per hour to go and ........, well,,, find somewhere else to eat

No, certainly not. Now the average house sits on half the average plot of 20 years ago and is ten times the distance from the city centre. It might be a box twice as big, but its not appreciating at the same rate as your parents, because it was the LAND component of your parents property that was the true hedge against inflation.

To keep it, your wife now has to work as much as you do, and weekends are now spent in maintenance and catch up, rather than leisure or family bonding.

The house is not something that the kids will ever receive as an inheritance, because you will need to draw down on its depreciating value, to afford to live in your retirement.

And your kids simply cant afford to buy their own homes and live with you into their late twenties while they save up enough. Im my generation, I was in my own home at age 22, with a new car and a $28,000 loan at 2/12% ....