(1) College is mandatory for a lot more jobs, and college costs a lot more than it used to.

When I was young (1980s) all jobs that paid a good salary required college. I found (1990s+) especially in tech that this wasn't true anymore. I can easily earn around 6 figures working almost anywhere in tech and I never got a degree.

(3) Jobs are harder to come by, and pay worse.

I find the opposite of this as well. Getting a job for me 20 years ago meant going door to door, submitting resumes, filing out applications or using a recruiter. 10 years ago the dot-com bubble burst and there were no jobs. Today I've been happily employed at a job and 6 months later I get several job offers every single day. Especially in Tech there are more jobs than there are qualified people to fill them according to my recruiter.

Also my last job search was a couple hours spent online and then the phone calls and emails never seem to stop pouring in. Jobless claims soared in 2008 and now they are at 1970s levels.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/jobless-claims