Why are the population numbers in Star Trek Picard so incredibly low?

Money is definitely still a thing on Earth. Joseph Sisko ran a restaurant with employees. Picard operated a winery. That's a lot of work for free. And the service provided is limited in nature. Both business used fresh real ingredients, no replicated chicken or grapes.

The federation is a post scarcity society in terms of basic resources and such. Everyone is guaranteed a place to live, access to food, and basic comforts. You are not guaranteed a 12 pm reservation at Sisko's restaurant with a real, properly cooked, steak and gumbo. You are not guaranteed a bottle of Picard '86. You have to pay for those with something like Federation Credits, which do exist.

When the Federation gave Sisko money to bribe people in his little assassination plot, they likely gave him Federation Credits to exchange for gold-pressed latinum.

/r/DaystromInstitute Thread Parent