Some is definitely by choice, some are lazy and stupid. However there is a growing problem of true lack of jobs that pay well.enough for someone to live.
Back in 80 I was making $20 an hour. On this I could party, own two cars one brand new and a motor cycle and pay mortgage by my self. I also could save oNE week of pay a month. New truck was 20,000 and house was 150,000
Now person in the same trade makes $35 an hour and uou can barely afford a car with a shared accommodation no savings. Yes it’s harder to save but things have gone insane in costs and fees. Truck new 80,000 house 2,000,000. A 30 percent pay increase can’t span the gap.
When I went back to university 4 years cost me just over 23,000 . Now same is over 100,000.
If you have not moved bulk of finances in mid 90 to tax havens off shore, using leveraged assets for aquiring property rentals here no way to do it now. Had some luck in investing in tech giants when they started but today all stock market is rigged scam.
Ask you self how much would it take if you had to start from scratch right now to get to where you are at? I personally could never make it back in 3 life times.
Where did we go wrong? The dream is a nightmare you can’t wake from and getting worse.