How do you know what my or anyone else's income was?

You're treating people as some sort of monolithic bloc.

Things are rough all over, Ponyboy.

Do you mean moot point? It renders nothing moot. Inflation and rent is not everything. We currently have a skills shortage in most developed nations so getting a job and keeping it is easy. More people have better access to health care than ever before. Most countries have access to better support for university students. Transportation and access to further-flung opportunity exists.

How many single mothers do you think suffered through great hardships at a time when divorce was far more frowned upon, when there were far fewer protections requiring the father to support the kids, and when they'd lost all employability due to their expected roles as mothers and homemakers -- even if women were taken seriously in the workforce and even if they could somehow leave the kids to work?

There are so many different factors that cherry picking one -- the average amount of disposable income after rent - is disingenous.