I do - but then I'm not retired.
The problem with the declining birthrate and people not wanting to work is that we have decoupled earnings and stability. In the past, you earned and once you earned a reasonable amount you could purchase a house. My own parents purchased their first house on two working class jobs and a mortgage roughly five times that of their combined annual income. That stability meant they could invest time in having baby Penguins (three in fact) and had just enough money to get us to adulthood without a threat to our existence.
In 2022/23, the number of children living in poverty increased by 100,000 from 4.2 million in 2021/22 to 4.3 million children. That's 30% of children in the UK.
A job didn't use to be exploitation but I'd argue that now it is, not because the jobs have changed but two things have - wages haven't kept up with inflation. Also, the gap between high-earners and low-earners has widened. I could go and work my ass off for a comparatively low wage and make some shareholders very wealthy, or if I went to a private school I could get myself on a CEO wage regardless of my skill and tank a company but still walk away with a bonus. (See Thames Water).
People did work harder in the past, because effort and reward were related. That isn't the case anymore. If I wanted to buy the same 3 bed house my parents bought, I'd need to get around 12 times my annual salary. If I wanted it in London, I'd need it 18 times my annual salary. At the same time the rental market here in London is sitting at between 30% to 60% of salary. A one bed flat here can cost £1200 - £2000 with the average national wage being £2,334 (in 2023). Most properties were sold away from social housing in the 1980s and this rental market is a second income for people who already own their own home and whose children get plumbed into the private school for the cushy CEO jobs I mentioned earlier.
You're correct that in 20/30 years there will be nobody doing these things - but I think your assertion is wrong. I think people generally do want to work, but they're opting out of a system stacked so heavily against them. People are voting with their feet against jobs they don't want to do for low wages and against a society which doesn't value their contribution comparatively with people who contribute little. People are smiling at their phones because there's very little to smile about in the real world.
How do you combat that? Why not invert the pyramid? Cap your CEO bonuses, cap the wage gap within a company, close tax-loopholes and tax avoidance, offer clear educational pathways and a decent wage for work that matters and has some social good. When I say socialism, it's not a bring out the red-flag call for a workers revolution, it's a call for progressive tax systems and caps on second homes, caps on self-awarded bonuses, more rights for unions and better worker conditions. Essentially, reset the conditions that created your generation through taxation and redistribution.
The generation below me is going to have to deal with AI taking a lot of jobs. It's already happening and we're not set up for it. Social democratic safety nets have always been the answer - unfettered capitalism has created a dystopia, which is why I can only foresee functional socialism in the future. ;o)
