Don't you think it's a little unlikely that people, in this day and age, with the current political climate in the west, don't "understand that it's a market". I think it's extremely unlikely.

I think it's more likely (because that's what I'm doing, and I expect others to do the same) that we are rejecting your market based framing, because it unnecessarily restricts good political action. I understand that wage can be viewed through the lens of the labor market, even Karl Marx knew that. I just don't think that's a very important or useful lens to view it through.

It's much like viewing political climate action, or product safety action, through the lens of the "market". You can do it, it's just not very useful for setting public policy.

The "labor market" didn't get children out of the factories, restrictions on that market did.