Thanks cxorcist, it all makes sense now. I now see that it was simply the folly of youth that made me think this TB was anything other than beneficial to the careers of junior crew.
You say "real adults, real families, real financial pressures=real life". You're spot on, and the pressure is getting ratcheted up for the junior crew because we're intentionally delaying any sort of payrise for ourselves for the possibility of an extra hour or so of sleep in the bunk.