ddzx, my father's generation had to cope with a tax rebate on mortgage interest in the UK, which likewise pushed up property prices.
But they knew how to be frugal. If you couldn't afford it, you didn't borrow to buy it (apart from a house). So, instead of wasting so much money on interest, and stuff they didn't need, they had enough to retire on.
If it is tougher to make ends meet, it is only because people deliberately make the ends further apart in the first place, with televisions, cars, holidays, entertainment, eating out, movies, pre-cooked meals etc.
