The reason why people don't work towards increasing their income in a bad economy is that they have the belief that things will get better; maybe the new government will fix the economy. This hope has kept many people from improving their situation or even moving backwards to a worse state.

If people truly intend to increase their income even in a bad economy, there will surely be an increase in income. It might take time, but there will be better results. People waiting for things to get better without working towards it is a problem, and it is causing them to remain the same.