Not true. When I got out of the Army in '72, I got an entry-level job as an electronic technician making $680 per month. (That seemed like a fortune at the time, since in the army I was making $250 per month.)
My rent (a house with two yards and an ocean view) cost $150 per month. New cars could be had for less than $3000. Income taxes were next to nothing. Ground beef was 19 cents per pound. Regular gas was 32cents/gal. Coors was $1.32 per six-pack.
Oh yes, health insurance for my family of four was totally paid by my employer.
I had at least half of each paycheck left over each week to blow on whatever I wanted.
After getting a BSEE and a lifetime of hard-to-get experience, I would still be making the same hourly wage as I was back then - if I could find a job, that is.