Headline says “earn”.
A lot of people get paid way more than they earn.
I guess I am a bit too literal, or pedantic.
Frankly when people just stop working because it isn’t worth the effort, then it is clear they aren’t paid what they earn. For low-skill workers in particular, the effort just isn’t worth it; they end up in the same neighborhoods/housing/schools as people who don’t work at all (they’re just a bit more tired).
I don’t support increasing the minimum wage; just pointing out the obvious; the only way to force them back into their peasant labors is to remove the freebies (which nobody will do because they’ll then show up and take by force - as they’ve been doing in the worst areas for years now). Our elites understand the murderous revolutions in France and Russia were driven by hungry, desperate people, so instead we house and feed them on welfare reservations (to the point they have a diabetes epidemic).
The whole bemoaning of dropping college enrollment is driven by two big factors: Women unable to find “suitable” mates (wallets), and the lack of (college) debt slavery that would normally compel younger people to work. Young people without families/bills(including loans) are not compliant serfs to be worked 24/7; hence the furious pace of replacing them with open borders. The NY governor said the quiet part out loud in August 2023: “Let them get the work authorizations; let them work; legally, let them work.”
Only desperate Thirdworlders see buying a piece of America (a share in a massive IOU bolstered by entitlements) as a deal; many of our own young people have checked out.