An example:

My parents married in 1995. They were in their mid-20s. My dad was the primary breadwinner, and my mom worked part-time until they had kids. Within 3 years of getting married, they were able to buy a modest, 1500 square foot home in a quiet suburb of San Diego for around $150,000.

My wife and I got married in 2021. I'm the primary breadwinner, and my wife works part-time. By raw numbers, our income is similar to my parents' at the same stage of their lives. However, compared to when my parents got married, the dollar has lost half it's value due to inflation, and the price of a comparable home has doubled. Homes in the neighborhood my parents first bought in often run north of $1,000,000 today.

Buying that starter home is possible for us, but it requires a tighter budget than it did for our parents to save enough for the down payment. And we are hard-pressed to find comparable, modest-sized starter homes in our city. The current suburbs are full of boxy, two-story monstrosities that start at $450,000.

Many of the people I know today in the same situation are rather despairing over the barrier to entry for home ownership. The situation just sucks all around.