At what point in history was it ever easy for liberal arts folks? Unless you were commissioned by someone to do something lucrative, you're pretty much shit on your entire life. Whether it's undervalued or not is debatable, but I will say that nothing has changed as far as perception of liberal arts other than some broader acceptance.

What has changed is that pretty much everyone goes to college now, and many of them go for liberal arts degrees. You can't have 1000 people going for 1 job and expect them all to get it.