I had a very sobering realization

We have new hire in my department around 10 years younger than me that I'm training. He gets paid $20 an hour and was talking about how many he can be eligible to finance a car payment now. His credit score is OK in 700s and he can't get a loan unless it's at least 15%+ lowest range for reliable cars is around 10-12k

I had an extremely sobering realization. 11 years ago I was in his shoes making $9 an hour. I was in uni and had a chance to work full time in summer, I worked full time paid my rent ($400 a month), Groceries( $150-200 a month) and still able to buy a $2500 car I drove for 5 years next. All on $9 job. Only 11 hears later you're telling me same cars are 5X the price, rent is 4x and wage is only 2x??

I feel so bad for people freshly starting life.