That's still true today in most of the country. It's completely possible to raise a family in the midwest on 50k a year. You'll live in an older, more modest home, drive used car, make your own meals, and use prepaid cell plans.

That might seem awful, but that was standard life in the 80s. My parents' families ate out like once a year growing up, never had cable, drove cars until the wheels fell off. My mom had handmade clothes growing up because clothing was still kind of expensive back then, so her grandma would make them new dresses in the summer for the upcoming schoolyear, then sweaters and such in the winter time.

The 60s/70s/80s were not some golden era. People struggled then as now. Economies shifted, jobs migrated from one region to another, cities decayed. They suffered through inflationary periods, deflationary periods, shortages, surpluses, etc.

This is something people don't realize. Growing up, having basic appliances at home was considered a luxury. I never owned a single fancy branded product. Clothes were handed down from siblings and extended family. We would go eat at the equivalent of McDonald's for a family treat. Someone buying a new imported car would cause a hubbub all over town. My dad had a respectable white-collar office job and we were solidly middle class America. Everyone has a ridiculous idea in their head of how the average single income family lived a few decades ago.

I remember the tail of these times. Were we less happy?

I don't think so, and people had more time to spare and did more together.

hownership rates were not higher in the 80s

That doesn’t necessarily conflict with what GP said. There has been a massive change in housing affordability (which also reflects in rent affordability). See https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=EjVw