My parents seem to live off of social security/pension payouts in WV pretty well.
My mother got a job with the government at the treasury dept at Public Debt without a college degree somehow. And 20 years in gets you a gov't pension, apparently. My stepdad doesn't do anything and never really did anything. No nothing.
My dad worked at Kroger for like 40 years and got in on the old, old, old union contract from the 60s that gave him a pension. He was a grocery clerk. And he has a pension. Like, a decent one. He doesn't work and travels all the time. Drives a brand new Ford Ecosport (which in WV is considered very nice). Could you imagine a grocery store worker today getting a pension? It sounds ridiculous.
They didn't have much money when I was growing up, but they are flourishing in retirement.
The baby boomers had the easiest path to success I can imagine. Could you imagine your life fallback plan being "**** it, I'll go work at the local grocery store and make a living wage with pension and medical." What a damned utopia they grew up in.