Why bother having a good work ethic when the only jobs available to the average person without a degree are slaving away at Uber or grubhub and entry level service jobs that pay $12 an hour where every customer treats you like you're subhuman, maybe if people had decent pay and better working conditions that wouldn't be the case

Ultimately, money. Crime is a direct consequence of poverty, the quality of your education is a direct result of how valuable your homes are, people beating the good old "harsher sentences" drums fail to recognize that most people committing crimes either don't think they'll be caught or don't care.

Higher wages, making it easier for people to get jobs when they leave prison, better affordable housing option, more funding to local schools and community centers, etc. The more we build up the foundation the fewer problems we'll see