And I have no idea what you are talking about.
My point is that each generation faces challenges and it is like comparing apples with oranges. And avocadoes weren't all that much around in the eighties.
Your original post inferred that it is only the current generation who required 2 incomes to manage mortgage payments and thus balance child care costs. Bad assumption.
The current generation just has to face mas immigration driving down wages at the mid to lower levels.
mass student immigration which further drives down wages at the lower end
457 Visas for fast food workers driving wages down at the lower end.
2 incomes today isn't about child care fees. It's about the fact that you'ed need to be in the top 5% of income earners to be able to buy a median property in Syd or Melbourne on a single income. This was far more achievable in the 80s.
The ABS classifies 1990 as 100 on their median house price index. In 1985 the index was just 66.7 for Sydney, 84.1 for Melb, 79.8 for Bris. Move forward to 2003 and the index was 170 / 153.2 / 160.2 for Syd / Melb / Bris. Far in excess of wages growth.
Back in the mid 80s you needed about 75% of household income for a deposit for house, or 60% for a unit. By late 2016 you needed about 170% for a house or 135% for a unit.
The Bank of International Settlements has developed internationally standardised debt service ratios (DSR) to derive estimates of aggregate principal and interest repayments to income. Household debt and prices escalated, interest rates declined and principal payments rose over the years. The gap has widened between interest payments to income and the DSR from around 1% between the late 1970s and early 1990s to a record 6% today.
From the BIS "the DSR is a reliable early warning indicator for systemic banking crises. Furthermore, a high DSR has a strong negative impact on consumption and investment.”
The DSR is currently 15% nationwide, far higher than the US, UK and Spain at the peaks of their housing bubbles. Estimates of the DSR for New South Wales and Victoria are 18%, which demonstrates extreme indebtedness.
Buyers from, say, 2010 face onerous payments over the life of their mortgage compared to those who purchased in 1980 and 1990 when interest rates were much higher. The average ratio across the lifetime of the mortgage for all purchases dates are 1960 (10%), 1970 (10%), 1980 (18%), 1990 (27%), 2000 (23%) and 2010 (37%). Affordability is even worse in 2016 due to rising prices, with an estimated average payment ratio of 42%. The payment burden for 2010 and 2016 is still extreme and higher than 1990.
The above demonstrate severe unaffordability, confirmed by the highest deposit-to-income ratios, the highest debt repayments relative to income over the lifetime of the mortgage and very high DSRs. Over 50% of first home buyers today are reliant on parental assistance, and it's rather sad many FHBs buy an apartment, live in it for 6 months to get any grants then rent it out to get NG and often move back to live with their parents. This is going to have long term negative consequences for Australia. The loss of productivity and competitiveness due to high land costs is a major factor in the hollowing out of the economy, along with artificially rising energy costs, and the idiocy of letting the AUD go above parity with the USD for an extended period.
Yes each generation faces their own difficulties, but to say the current FHB situation is comparable to any previous time in Australia is just wrong. I feel sorry for anyone buying in the last few years. They will at best live with a debt millstone for 25 years, at worst end up bankrupt or nearly so.
. 
