For me it's not paying that's the issue, but rather having to sign up to an individual service and pay a monthly fee for every piece you read on every different website.

There really needs to be a Spotify for journalism and similar content. I know there are some attempts (apple news for example) but they haven't cracked it yet.

The average person skips paywalls for the same reason the average person used to pirate movies. It isn't about cost, but about the most convenient means of access