British youths are a workshy lot, unwilling to put in the hard labour and long hours that eastern Europeans will without demur. So says Jullian Preston-Powers, who runs Intenso Espresso in Hove, East Sussex. A job applicant, Victoria Atkins, asked to change her trial shift after she was already two hours late, a request Mr Preston-Powers denied. He had a point. There followed an exchange on the effort youngsters will put into earning a living — not a lot apparently.

Ms Atkins’s travel difficulties aside, this should come as no surprise since the rich work less than the poor. Despite lackadaisical wage growth in recent years, Britons live in one of the richest societies the world has ever seen. All societies take at least part