8 years ago was a decent time. You could either be poor enough to get food stamps to feed your family for a month making minimum wage which would pay the rent plus utilities or if you took a little higher paying job you didn't qualify for food stamps or medicaid so it would be impossible to live. Made it way easier to find any job and not worry.
Now I am making 20 an hour plus commission which equates to like 25 an hour and I am in a worse spot. Foodstamps and Medicare do not adjust with inflation properly and so I'm paying 300 a month for insurance for myself and about 800 a month to feed my wife and 3 kids as well. We don't buy expensive foods. We have steak 1 or 2 nights a week but cheap steak and the rest is generic big frozen bags or chicken and bulk burgereat for various dinners.
We didn't move into an expensive place. We actually moved in with mother in law in a pinch and haven't left because she can't afford to live on her own with a house she bought 9 years ago. We pay more than half the mortgage but it's way cheaper than rent for an apartment that's waaay smaller and tiny.
At this point the only way to get by on your own is a job that makes like 40 an hour. In the job market I have been applying for jobs for 2 months that pay at least 30 an hour and only call back I got was for a job that said I'd start at 14 and work my way up higher. I told them to not waste people's time by posting the amount you could make after a years if they won't give it right away. Gets worse because most places will fire you for asking for a pay increase or just say no but you can't fight back because even though discussing pay with others isn't illegal, most don't have the funds to go to court and fight it while not having a job.
My wife works nights and I work days. Our food list hasn't changed in 4 years but it gets more expensive. Now if you qualify for food stamps you cant pay rent. If you take a job to afford rent you cant afford to get by every month. Worst part? The government and majority of people who have the time to make the change are people who grew up in the Era where it was dramatically easier to live so they feel we are entitled and asking for handouts.
The takeaway is We are fucked. We can't get a mass strike because we would be homeless the next month but we can't get further because we don't strike. The US is fucked and don't come here