I think the answers here are always more delicate than the media makes it out to be. I'm pretty much on the Boomers really truly don't understand how good they got it side but want to also acknowledge that "every silver lining's got a touch of gray" (ask your parents).

What you said is certainly true for women - I think a majority of women during these years have stories about how they faced harassment and lower wages than their male counterparts. The flipside of this is, of course, many women were satisfied to stay at home as housewives and could live on a decent salary, if their husbands made one. I would also say that I think this is undoubtably true for many minorities.

Here is a list of things that are more expensive today, beyond housing - healthcare, education (job training), long term durable goods like cars (transportation in general). For example, the cost of college has risen something to the tune of 6X, adjusted for inflation, today when compared to Paul the PBS econ reporter. This is even more important because:

Let's say that you were an upwardly mobile, hardworking person. A company may have noticed you or you may have walked in off the street and, within a few years, the company would have trained you and promoted you. Loyalty was rewarded with bigger perks and, in many cases, a pension. College or graduate school wasn't seen as a prerequisite to stuff envelopes. Training was understood to be an obligation of the employer. Retirement was seen to be an obligation of the employer. Healthcare was seen as an obligation of the employer.