Well I didn’t say you can’t find a niche where good programming is appreciated and you’re paid a decent wage for doing a good job. Hell, that’s where I’m at now - part-time anyway - and I’m having a blast 
What I mean is, you’re more likely to find a shit job with a lot of crazy deadlines, overtime and crappy pay than the other way round in that field - ESPECIALLY if you don’t have experience (college degrees don’t matter if you have the work experience). And it ain’t gonna get no better.
I started out in the 80s when it was great. Then in the 90s, it was insanely great (but a lot of work - too much work). Then the 2000 bubble collapsed everything, and even with a lot of experience under my belt, all that was left was stupid frustrating jobs at companies that didn’t want to hear about quality code. Then I retrained and left that field forever.
I had it good for a good while, then it turned boring and underpaid for my skills, even with a long and interesting CV. Imagine our friend @Backpackingvet getting into that space now, where all the glory and the money is gone, the low-skills jobs have been outsourced, and the only fields that are truly in demand and in development are in AI, that require exceptional talents in maths. Talk about a career suicide move!
Unless of course he gets lucky and scores a nice job. It’s always possible. But the likelihood is that he won’t, is my point. Computer programming is the wrong horse to bet on, even if nags sometimes win races.