The author lost me here - where is the logic in saying that people are paying a lot for a decent house near decent schools, and the next thing he says is that his hypothetical budget includes private school for a child under 10. That is elementary school!
"On the other hand, I am often in the position of defending middle-class Americans who are slowly slipping further and further behind, even while it seems like they make a lot of money.
I think they are forced to pay too much money for decent housing near decent schools, and that pretty much wrecks every budget, whether or not they splurge on restaurant food and nice shoes. Add in occasional thoughts about lack of retirement savings and college costs, and you have a lot of restless parents.
For the purposes of discussion, we're talking about a hypothetical four-person household: A married couple with two children younger than 10. We're going to assume both parents work and that the family must pay for child care for one while the other goes to a medium-priced private school. They live and work near one of America's largest cities"