In Februar 1973 the average wage adjusted for inflation was 23.24 Dollars an hour – this number wasnt reach again until March 2019: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/50-years-of-us-wages-in-one-chart/
During the last two years inflation has lead to a real wage decline of another 10-15%. If this trend continues our real wages will have declined by around 50% sometimes around 2025. Meanwhile everything is getting much more expensive. Soon people will be hard pressed to buy food.
So why not live from stealing, social security or unemployment benefits? I dont see the point of working anymore.