It is an excuse, when used as a barrier to why they can’t. My point being that these rights, expectations, social norms, whatever else we might call them or list, are being slowly shaved away. There is also something to be said for that risk being one of the leashes placed upon the working class. A fear of reprisal. A very real fear, unfortunately.
Yet this is where we are. Either we take these risks or risk everything being systematically taken away anyway while we struggle to pay ever increasing bills. A slow death from financial squeeze.