Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends on the person but it doesn't seem completely impossible - ignoring inflation, $250/yr for If they can manage it in 3min rather than 5, it's up to $13.70/hr. Where I am (UK) I think most newspaper delivery people are aged 13-18, and while there's far less of them about than when I was a kid, I wouldn't be surprised if >50% would be willing to do it to earn an extra $4.80/week. Of course, you also need to trust…
Very few people are going to add a 5 minute stop to their day to make an extra $8 every fortnight.
I think you're massively underestimating a) the amount of poverty even in the US (or whatever country you're thinking of) yet alone in places where the mean salary is only a couple of hundred bucks, and b) the limited options for making more money for the type of person who does paper rounds (often but not always <18yo, but always in a situation where they need/want the work of delivering newspapers for a low hourly rate and for likely less than a few hours a day).