I think it&#x27;s more that in countries with social security, people aren&#x27;t forced to work on such low wages (or more precisely, on low income as a self-employed person).<p>If people have their rent and food and medical care paid for, and have access to a spectrum of free public services, it&#x27;s not worthwhile to take the toll of labouring and fixing the clothes and shoes for others.<p>I can typically buy new, good quality shoes (made in Asia by people who have no social security) for the price of one or two simple repairs to shoes. My current favourites are six years old now, made by Ecco somewhere in China, and they show no significant signs of wear outside. I had to have them fixed once when a puppy chewed the heel of one of them a bit.<p>The problem is bigger in European welfare states than in the US. It&#x27;s going away, though:  the welfare state structures will be ramped down radically within a decade or two.