Your post was limited to get a job with no mention of school. If I misinterpreted that as to mean forgo school, I apologize. I believe government should pay for all meaningful higher education through student loans for those who don't have the means, a modest investment in the future of the country.

As to students working their way through school during my era and in the contemporary world, there doesn't seem to be any comparison. I was on the semester system, which allowed me to work full-time during the summer at plentiful and relatively well-paying unskilled and semi-skilled jobs to acquire money for tuition, books and save enough to supplement my menial jobs during the school year. In that era anyone completing their junior year of college in all but the arts was almost assured of a well-paying summer internship in their discipline as companies were actively recruiting every college grad with decent grades.

I doubt that I'd have been able to make it on my own with the current job market, rampant inflation and transportation costs. Most of the pathetic junkers I drove wouldn't even be allowed on the road in today's world.