I did initially overlook that a good chunk of the difference between 24 percent and 33 percent may just be the tax bracket change Oops. The lower bracket occured to me at the end of the post (I actually had forgotten it at first) but I failed to go back and apply that bracket change to the first part of the post. I have not been able to find what $67,800 would have been taxed at in 1973. Adding to this the fact that all the numbers have been adjusted for inflation, and this is now looking like a lot of work.

Let's go over my post again:

Let's have some fun with the chart, and I'm working ONLY from the chart, which is supposedly adjusted for inflation. What if the percentage of income taken by taxes now was the same as it was in 1973? 24%? (You don't want to know how low it was in the 1950s)

Now the tax bite on $67,800 is $16,272. Add up the righthand column again and you get $44,792 in expenses, which would give you $23,008 left over. Looking a lot better, isn't it?

Okay, lose that part. As you say, the tax rate would not have been as low as 24 percent on that amount of money.

But what does happen if the family in the chart quits one job? Can we still make the assumption that the CURRENT tax rate on $38,700 would be no higher than 24 percent?

Assuming the mortgage at $9,000, insurance at $1,650, taxes at $9,288, cars at $8,200, and no daycare, we get a total of $28,138, giving a leftover income of $10,562, or $13,622 if you lose a car.

So the last part of my post is still accurate, again within the limited scope given by that chart.