RELO Roundtable…a gathering place

Ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of ‘stuff’ you’ve accumulated? Don’t blame your parents for your hoarding  habits. Blame big money.

After WWII, growing upper crust affluence fueled, in part, by rapidly expanding technology and slick marketing tactics resulted in a nationwide shift from a manufacturing to a service economy.  This social change combined with rising divorce rates and relatively low energy costs to compel Americans to accumulate more and more junk in bigger and bigger homes. It’s no surprise that since the 1950’s the average home in the U.S. has more than doubled in size.

Once consumers filled up all the nook and crannies in their available living space, many went out and rented additional warehouse space from traditional moving companies or self storage facilities to house their excesses and all of their toys.

Up until recently, the goal of the average 3.1 person family was to live in a four bedroom, 2 ½ bath home complete with a two-car garage and media link in every room.

As Robert H. Frank, a professor of management and economics at Cornell University noted in this National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast, “the growth of big houses is not really about greed. It’s all about context”.

“If you live in a village in Africa, even a modest American house seems huge. But in the United States, there are now millions of people with lots of money, and their wealth shifts the frame of reference for those just below them.”

“So let’s say you want to find the best school district for your child, but the houses there are huge and expensive. You might take fewer vacations, endure a much longer commute, save less. But you don’t forgo the bigger house, because it means a better neighborhood and a better education. This is a deeper phenomenon, Frank says, than keeping up with the Joneses.”

"This is about what we feel we need as a function of the context in which we live," he says. "We know that when everyone stands up, no one gets a better view. We know there are all sorts of situations where individual choices that are perfectly rational add up to a total outcome that none of us likes very much. This is one of those."

Recently Mayflower Transit, one of the most recognized names in moving, reported that for the last four years, the average shipment size for their customers is actually shrinking.

While many industry insiders and demographic researchers who follow global moving and relocation trends point to an aging population and shrinking expat workforce as contributing to the phenomenon, the downsizing trend is most likely caused by the shaky economic forces that lead to the collapse of financial and real estate markets worldwide. As Professor Frank observed, it’s all about context.

This article was published at the Moving and Relocation page at the national media publication, Examiner.com – a new type of online journalism. Check it out!