Part of this is that before the 1970s, the US minimum wage was set so that a full-time job would keep you above the poverty line. People could raise a family,

Part of this is that before the 1970s, the US minimum wage was set so that a full-time job would keep you above the poverty line. People could raise a family, pay a mortgage, etc. on a minimum wage job. That relationship was broken, but not the assumption that if you are poor, you are lazy. What this is really doing is providing welfare to all the companies paying below-poverty wages - the taxpayers pay for benefits to allow the workers in those positions to live, while simultaneously increasing corporate profits. The portion of GDP going to wages has almost never been lower than it is now [1] It is about corporate regulatory capture redesigning the economy for corporate wealth extraction and not for the benefit of the citizens. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/W270RE1A156NBEA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/W270RE1A156NBEA