It makes sense. Low-wage workers simply can't afford to move to a lower cost of living city, even if there were better job opportunities and cost of living.
It'll cost $5-$10k to move a modest household to a different state. That alone is an massive barrier for a lot of working class people/families. But you're also right that they may lose access to friends and family, which might include free childcare, rides to school, etc.
* I'm assuming that when you were a student, you didn't have a lot of possessions to move, didn't have a family and kids to move too, didn't have a house to sell.
* You generally need to acquire a place to live before you can move, otherwise you'll be homeless when you get there. This will probably involve putting down a significant deposit on a new apartment, before you get the deposit back on your current apartment, if you live in an apartment. And many apartments require income verification to apply, which makes it difficult to move to find a new job; you have to already acquire a new job in the new place before you move. And of course travel is expensive to find/acquire a new job/home in a new place.
* Moving can be very time consuming, especially if it's long distance. Which means time off from work, which may lower your income even more.
* Of course losing access to friends and family, as you said.
> * Of course losing access to friends and family, as you said.
Also, this can be a big economic hit for "low wage workers" (to use the GGP's term), since they often rely on their friends and family to provide a economic safety net and needed services at low cost (e.g. it's a lot cheaper for grandma to watch her grand-kids while you're at work than pay for daycare).
Or am I thinking wrong here. The hurdle is not the physical move, but like losing close access to friends and family?