[pcthrowaway]

Easier to use well is not the same as easier to learn well.

In a sense it's easier to use if you follow the happy path, and have a good resource of what's on that happy path.

It's harder to use if working with legacy software, or don't have a good guide to stay on the happy path.

There are also more concepts overall to learn from box model and stacking context to flow layout, flex, grid, compositing, and isolation than there were 15 years ago. Some of these can replace previous concepts like float and table based layouts, but overall I'd say the barrier to expertise is higher.