That is no longer the reality for young people. Rapidly rising wealth inequality means investors have more capital to purchase vital assets (particularly houses), putting financial security way out of reach. You simply can't invest in the things you absolutely need to live on anything but a temporary basis, and those who control those things can change the price at any time.
Working for a salary does not build wealth. Work is inherently valuable, we need stuff and skills, but we have to recognize clearly that the taxation and wealth systems in the modern world are absolutely bonkers, and that it is directly crushing workers' standards of living.
To build wealth you need capital—either to invest or to cover expenses while you pour swear equity into whatever you are building. A salary providing an excess over your expenses can certainly help provide a saved nest egg to make that step.
Otherwise you better have a solid idea and the ability to convince someone with capital to keep you fed and sheltered while you build it…and for that patience and investment they deserve a piece of the pie that you are baking.
This North American belief that financial stability has home ownership as a prerequisite is incorrect. Consider as a counter example Germany where much of the population rents their primary residence. Germans don’t feel marginalized for it. They save and invest. They raise children and participate in society and aren’t ashamed of being renters.
The tenancy laws are a major driver of this. My understanding is that the tenancy laws are much more favourable towards renters in Germany relative to the US or the broader Anglosphere, and this changes what people need to feel secure.
Working for a salary does not build wealth. Work is inherently valuable, we need stuff and skills, but we have to recognize clearly that the taxation and wealth systems in the modern world are absolutely bonkers, and that it is directly crushing workers' standards of living.