50 years ago we were better off. The economy was booming, living wages that allowed a single income to support a family were the norm rather than the exception, less concentration of wealth and income at the top meant that the benefits of society were shared and resulted in more social cohesion and the probability that the next generation would be better off than the current generation was real instead of an illusion.
Mind you, we didn't have big screen TVs, iPhones, monster houses and automobiles that do everything except wipe your bottom nor did we have a society financed with debt and dependent on increases in that debt to finance continuing economic growth. Nor did we have a political system that served business interests rather than the interests of society as a whole.
Being better off involves a whole lot more than just high levels of consumption.