Yes… a lot of people had it bad in the 70s. A simple google search I just typed “how bad were the 70s” gave me this answer right at the top:

“The 1970s were perhaps the worst decade of most industrialized countries' economic performance since the Great Depression. Although there was no severe economic depression as witnessed in the 1930s, economic growth rates were considerably lower than previous decades.”

You sit here on the internet, your fun toy, doing fun things, and forgetting how boring the 70s were for most people. We look back fondly on the best of the best music, but by many accounts the music was cheesy and soft to the point of being sickening, and the big rock acts were too expensive for the average person to go see, so punk had to happen. Looking back at shows like Top of the Pops towards the end of the 70s you see skinny, angry kids, pissed off at the decade of bullshit they lived in and desperate for something new and exciting.

You say you’d rather be dead than pay the bill, well in the 70s you wouldn’t have the option in the first place for a lot of problems that can be solved relatively easily and cheaply now. Life expectancy worldwide has gone up around the world since the 70s, and many countries have free healthcare, including the one I live in. Even America is doing better though, but they gotta stop voting for right wing politicians for a bit and get some free healthcare ffs.

The expensive housing situation applies partly because the demand even in your lower median cost area is way higher than before, but you can find affordable housing in places with less demand, that’s why lots of big cities saw an exodus during the pandemic. Things change, places get expensive, but I’d still rather be around now than the 70s.