[nradov]

There's nothing stopping you from having more free time. Move to a low cost area, get a part time job, and live a frugal lifestyle. However most people have different priorities, and prefer to chase social status and material comfort at the expense of free time.

[throwaway-x123]

Why frugal lifestyle? Was it frugal lifestyle in 1970? From 1970 productivity increased a few times, so the work day can be reduced a few times.

I've spent some time looking for a part time job, there is none/rare. Also part time wage likely will not be enough for life support.

Almost no one have a choice in how many hours to work so we do not know what people prefer.