vitrine · corridor · pairwise
1970s ↔ 2020s
Fact families the measure guard certifies comparable for this pair. Everything else renders as the gap it is. Every value links to its record.
A median home — affordability
A new car — affordability
⚠ Price and anchor years differ by more than 3 years in: 2020s — the hours axis is not strictly inflation-free there.
Budget composition
Inspect the folded categories
1970s
housing:
housing 26.0%
apparel:
apparel 6.4%
food:
food 17.1%
health:
healthcare 5.3%
transport:
transportation 17.6%
other:
insurance/pensions 8.7% + entertainment 7.8% + cash contributions 3.7% + education 1.5%
2020s
housing:
housing 31.3%
apparel:
apparel 2.5%
food:
food 13.5%
health:
healthcare 7.0%
transport:
transportation 17.9%
other:
insurance/pensions 14.8% + entertainment 4.6% + education 2.4% + cash contributions 2.0%
Life expectancy at birth
years (all races, both sexes)
⚠ Decades before the 1960s published white-only male/female life tables with no all-races total — the placard carries the sexed figures and the chart renders the gap rather than a spliced concept.
1970s · Tier A
67.1 male, 74.8 female (70.8 total, all races)
2020s · Tier A
76.5 male, 81.4 female (79.0 total)
Infant mortality
deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
1970s · Tier A
20.0 per 1,000 live births
2020s · Tier A
5.525 per 1,000 live births (552.5 per 100,000)
People in poverty
% below the official poverty line
⚠ The official poverty series begins in 1959 — earlier decades have no line.
Homeownership
% of occupied housing units owner-occupied
Average family size
persons per family
⚠ The 1900s datum (5.31) is from the 1901 BLS wage-earner survey — 0.7 persons above the Census 1900 national average of 4.61; the survey over-sampled larger families, not by design.
⚠ The 1940s point is 1947 (first postwar CPS tabulation), not 1940. The 1960s uptick (3.7 vs 3.54 in 1950) reflects the baby boom's peak family-composition effect.
Household landline telephone
% of households
⚠ The 1900s source combines several technologies in one headline percentage, so its 5% is not plotted as a telephone datum.
⚠ 1910s–1930s sources counted telephones per 1,000 population, not households — those decades render as gaps rather than a unit splice.
Air conditioning
% of households with AC
⚠ The 1980s source bridges 1978 central-AC and 1993 total-AC figures — no single-decade datum, so the decade renders as a gap.
Vehicle at home
% of households with a vehicle
Women's unpaid home production
hours per week, prime-age women
⚠ From 2010s onward the source is ATUS (all adults 15+, hrs/day, narrower 'household activities'), not Ramey (prime-age women 18-64, hrs/week, broader 'home production') — a concept splice. ATUS facts remain available in their rooms, but render as linked gaps on this weekly axis rather than as a false decline.
1970s · Tier C
32.1
2020s · Tier C
Ramey 2005: women 29.3, men 16.8 hrs/week (ages 18–64) → ATUS 2024: household activities 2.01 hrs/day, all adults 15+ — see the placard
Men's unpaid home production
hours per week, prime-age men
⚠ From 2010s onward the source is ATUS (all adults 15+, hrs/day, narrower 'household activities'), not Ramey (prime-age men 18-64, hrs/week, broader 'home production') — a concept splice. ATUS facts remain available in their rooms, but render as linked gaps on this weekly axis rather than as a false rise or decline.
1970s · Tier C
12.1
2020s · Tier C
Ramey 2005: women 29.3, men 16.8 hrs/week (ages 18–64) → ATUS 2024: household activities 2.01 hrs/day, all adults 15+ — see the placard
Food's share of spending
% of household expenditure
⚠ Populations differ across the century — 1901 wage-earner families vs modern consumer units; every placard names who was measured.
⚠ The 1950s point is the nearest available survey (CEX 1960–61), stated plainly rather than back-cast.
1970s · Tier A
Food $2,089/yr (17.1% of expenditure). Food at home $1,543 (74% of food), food away from home $546 (26%). Key items: beef $242, bakery $139, fresh milk $130, pork $134, poultry $69, other meats $61, fish $40, eggs $37, cereals $46. Total expenditure: $12,226.
2020s · Tier A
Food 13.5% of expenditure for 4-person families (~$14,800 of $109,622/yr). Down from 42.54% in 1901.
Consumer Price Index
CPI-U level, 1982–84 = 100
1970s · Tier A
CPI 38.8 (1970) → 313.7 (2024) = 8.1x. $1 in 1970 = $8.09 in 2024. Real median family income grew 1.33x.
2020s · Tier A
313.7
Median home size
median sq ft, new single-family houses completed
⚠ 1970s–2020s: median square feet of new single-family houses completed (Census C-25/H-150 / Characteristics of New Housing). The 2020s point is 2024; the series is conceptually consistent across the whole span.
Number of families
families in the United States
⚠ CPS/F-8 counts all families (related persons living together). The 1940s point is 1947 — the first postwar CPS tabulation.
Heart disease mortality
age-adjusted deaths per 100,000
Cancer mortality
age-adjusted deaths per 100,000
⚠ Six points across nine decades — 1960s, 1980s, and 2000s are missing from the NCHS series and render as gaps.
Stroke mortality
age-adjusted deaths per 100,000
⚠ Only three points span the 70-year window — the decline is dramatic but sparsely sampled. Additional decades are available from the same NCHS source for a future curation pass.
Cancer 5-year relative survival
% surviving 5 years after diagnosis (SEER)
⚠ Different source family (SEER/NCI, not CDC NCHS) and different unit (% surviving, not deaths per 100,000) — not grouped with the mortality arcs.
Healthcare spending as share of GDP
% of GDP (national health expenditures)
Out-of-pocket share of health spending
% of total NHE paid out of pocket
1970s · Tier A
32.7% of national health expenditures paid out of pocket
2020s · Tier A
10.5% of national health expenditures paid out of pocket
Apparel's share of spending
% of total expenditures
⚠ Population changes mid-series: 1970s–1990s are 4-person CUs (CEX Table 4), 2000s–2020s are all consumer units (multi-year tables). Every placard names the measured population.