In 1978, DJing at a small town daytimer, I made 70 cents above minimum if you don't count all the mandatory unpaid OT. I kept an apartment, ate OK, had a cat, paid my utilities, and was able to take my new girlfriend out on weekends. NO ONE could do that now. Also, my parents had given me a year of cable as a gift.

And the problem is not with the individual. The problem is that capitalism is working exactly the way it's designed to.