system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why has the cost of living gone so far up?

A few decades ago, a single breadwinner with a decent job could support a family with an alright house and a car. Now either that one breadwinner has to have an extremely good job, or his partner has to work as well. What happened?
gpt
Expectations of a decent life style have increased since then. What was fine back then would be considered poverty level nowadays.

In addition, economy is a zero-sum game. When people shifted to two breadwinners per household, the economy adapted. Households have more money available and are willing to pay more for a decent living. But just because they are willing to pay more, does not necessarily imply that the value of the house itself has increased. 

That's because most of our economy has shifted toward the service and knowledge sectors. Even though more people are working, most do not actually produce anything that would directly improve our standard of living (house, car, etc.). What we got are many self-contained systems that do not raise the standard of living or provide value to consumers but only provide value to the system they are in.