My dad worked at a pizza place and my mom didn't work. He wasn't the manager or assistant manager. He made and sometimes delivered pizzas. He bought a very cheap house which today would cost $350k, had 3 children, 2 cars. We were always fed, went to the movies, had Nintendo.
This might not sound poor, but all of my clothes were second hand, the cars were older, and some people at school let me know that I was poor. We never went on vacations. We lived in the “bad” part of town. But 80s poor was so much better than today.
I'm old poor and I know poor and the way people have to live today is horrific. I've never seen so many unhoused people in my life. The price gouging for cars, rent, and real estate is disgusting. Capitalism is a monster that is actively making our lives more difficult.