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Comment by gedy | Hacker News Reader

The article ignores the step after paying people more - they usually need to raise prices too, and customers balk and don't want to pay either.

That said, my opinion is if rent was cheaper, a lot more people would be willing to do these service jobs of it meant they could live independently.

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> my opinion is if rent was cheaper, a lot more people would be willing to do these service jobs of it meant they could live independently.

This is 100% it. The housing market in the Anglosphere is the root of all problems. At least in the UK, I'm anticipating a single issue party to form in the coming years, like UKIP but solely for housing and renting reform. It would have the potential to steal votes from both the left and right and become a formidable power.

... until BricksIt (TM) passes and like UKIP it fades away into irrelevance.

Hopefully, unlike UKIP, not into disgrace.

I think you hit the nail on the head here: "if rent was cheaper"

The jobs that that people "don't want to work anymore" no longer pay a living wage. Between rent hikes squeezing the low end, high interest rates squeezing the middle class, and every major company from oil down to Kellog's raising prices but not wages, people can't _afford_ to take menial, minimum-wage jobs anymore.

Oh, and a bunch of people died because of COVID, so supply has been affected too.

"I interviewed a Japanese bespoke shoemaker last month and asked why are there so many craft-based businesses in japan, like bespoke tailors. He said rent is relatively low in Tokyo, so if you have a passion for making suits and you only have a few customers, you're fine"

https://twitter.com/dieworkwear/status/1725234349111721992

Low rent was both commercial and housing.

Isn't Japan's population decreasing dramatically, so the demand for housing is not increasing like in USA? They also have a very strict immigration policy, opposite of USA.

That's at the country level, but _Tokyo_ was also seeing a rural-to-urban migration that ran from the 1950s to a peak in 2019 or so, and maintained relatively low rents between housing and transportation policies compared to major US cities.

Population in the cities is constantly growing; it's just the towns and smaller cities that are dying out.

Immigration to Japan is much, much, much easier than the US, as long as you have a job offer here. Immigrating to the US is an expensive nightmare for most. The big difference is that the US prioritizes family members, so it's easy to bring your 2nd cousin after you've gotten in. In Japan, there's absolutely no preference for relatives, except spouses and minor children of course.

> The big difference is that the US prioritizes family members, so it's easy to bring your 2nd cousin after you've gotten in.

That’s not true about the US. You can’t just “bring” whatever family member you feel like over “after you’ve gotten in”. Where did you hear that?

Yes, you can. It's right here:

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/gree...

I was exaggerating about the 2nd cousin bit, but check out preferences F3 and F4: you can bring over your married adult children and your siblings too.

Also, here: https://mx.usembassy.gov/visas/family-based-immigration/

Parents can be brought over too.

And would make it easier for business to make ends meet too.

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