Welfare may be the cause for low end minimum wage jobs, but I don't think it's the cause for skilled workers. I think the problem is that there aren't enough people with the skills to do a lot of the jobs. And some of the problem is to many with college educations and no technical skills.
Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" fame explains the problem far better than I can. Yeah, the culture we've created in that "you'll never amount to much unless you go to college and get a degree" has worked famously well -- including for those youngsters who spend enormous amounts of money chasing a dumbass "gender studies" or equally woke course of "study." Then, with no Plan B in their back pocket, they whine like little bitches when that gender studies degree is about as impactful and meaningful as a fart in a hurricane.
Decades ago I learned that studying music was a great thing from a personal satisfaction POV, but putting food on the table was going to be a very long stretch if I put all my eggs in that particular basket. Back then we didn't have auto-tune (right, Brittany Spears and Justin Bieber?) and you actually had to be proficient on one or more instruments in order to be hired at all. So getting a degree was something I had to do as I'm not a welder, plumber, or electrician and when I finished with the Army as a musician (having learned to shuffle papers for a living and inspect things in addition to playing multiple instruments), I found something I enjoyed and paid well. I had to resort to Plan B, IOW.
Yesterday I had a guy come over and install a shower door on a recently-tiled shower. Afterwards, he revealed that in his construction company 2 years ago, he had 3-4 crews with about 9-10 guys in each crew. Today they're down to one crew with him and 2 other guys, and the boss who does no physical labor any more. Why? Well, all that free money that the politicians (including Trump) threw at the Covid problem had a lot to do with it and as long as the government pays these guys to sit on their asses, they won't work. Simple as that.