I wonder how their feelings might change when the maintenance costs come home to roost, when their frequent driving involves them in an accident their insurance company refuses to cover (because they have personal use insurance), and now they have neither car nor job, etc.
Basically, it seems to me that there is a lot of deferred cost and risk and that people are, in general, very bad at assessing. Perhaps the job is not worth it if you factor in these long term factors, but most people have not yet had to factor them in. (As our OP said, data would be nice here. When do these costs come home for drivers? What do they say then?)
One thing I will say. Professionalization and licensure certainly brings its own hazards, but one thing it almost always does is drive up wages for the licensee. The taxi market in NYC is wacked out, but taxi drivers can usually enjoy a decent standard of living in major metros with licensed taxi systems.
My sample is quite small, but from quick chats with Uber drivers they seemed to like it.
You won't become a millionaire driving Uber, but it's better than being a deli clerk in a grocery store next door.