This post made me recall this story.
https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/tys7z5/in_1973_could_you_really_survive_with_just_a/
I have an older friend that is now a retired nurse. In 1968 he took a job as a 'dock manager' for lack of a better term, He wasn't required to do hard labor just mainly direct others to unload here or load there, pallets, boxes, etc. He also had to keep a ledger of the comings and goings of trucks and goods. It was a union job and paid about $13 an hour. This was when you could buy a McDonald's lunch (burger fries and coke) for less than $2. A new car, like a Camaro was $2,700. Basically, 5 weeks of wages would pay for the car. It took about 1900 hrs to be able to buy and pay off the avg house back then.
Today people scramble for a 'living wage' and while figures range, I'll use $17 or $34k annually.
Depending on the model, the car that could be bought with 5 weeks will now take a year of work.
A house that used to take a year will now take 10-15 years and that's with no other expenses!
I don't see how anyone can manage. The system is completely broken. Even $22 an hour in Denmark doesn't go that far.