What are they going to do when they age? These risks apply to people choosing profession even as they are in the future. No one is young forever and there is no promotion from these jobs to another job.
Cumulatively, during career, the longer you work there the more likely injuries happen to you. And the more physical work, the more catastrophic consequences (I can code with two broken legs).
All that must be factored in for young people too.
Yes, as you age, the risk/reward balance begins to shift - sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once. There are paths out of the trades though. You can start your own small (plumbing/building/etc.) company, hire people (younger ones) to do the heavy lifting, and essentially "move into management." Or you can take some of the money you earned, go back to school, and change careers. I know someone who injured his back digging trenches, and while recuperating from that injury, started teaching himself computers. Now he works for a state agency and sits in a chair.
Nothing is guaranteed of course, but the question was "Who considers 55-60k 'high paying' especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues?" and the answer was "Young high-school grads for whom that's a lot of money and for whom the health risks are not quite as bad." That's a very general answer that deliberately doesn't offer any opinion on whether they are right or wrong in thinking that way. And obviously the less young they are, or the more money they want, or the less risk they tolerate, the less true the statement is.
Cumulatively, during career, the longer you work there the more likely injuries happen to you. And the more physical work, the more catastrophic consequences (I can code with two broken legs).
All that must be factored in for young people too.