That just sounds like slavery with... extra... steps...

The kobold bioform was among the first of the truly human-engineered organisms, commissioned by the gerontocracy as a calculated response to the central challenge of the 21st century - immortality. Science had unlocked the genetic code and the secrets of cellular regeneration. While death might have been conquered, old biological imperatives weren't so easy to overcome, and the rejuvenation of boomers into libidinous, fertile, young bodies, when combined with their conservative/non-existent attitudes to birth control, resulted in a second baby boom that dwarfed the first. If demographic projections were correct, humanity would cover the earth in a twelve-metre-thick layer of compacted flesh by the 23rd century. Even worse, the economy would suffer for it.

Whereas until then previous bioforms had been products of crude genetic splicing (either emphasizing existing human traits or splicing chunks of animal DNA into the human genome for ears or tails), the kobold bioform was constructed from the ground up, and was the furthest that bioforms had drifted from the human baseline. Billions were pumped into its R&D, with the finest gene-engineers working on the design day and night. The kobold needed to be efficient, placing a minimal burden on existing infrastructure. A reptilian base was selected for calorific efficiency. Its size was stunted so that an entire extended family of them could live comfortably in a small apartment, or uncomfortably in a closet if needed. Intended to become the standard bioform among the lower classes, it was made to be docile and industrious, and programmed with a fixation on shiny things.

The gerontocracy had learned from their previous attempt to push a stripped-back, efficient design onto the 'surplus population'. The resulting Dwarven Riots had been disastrous. They knew the public would react violently to being pushed once again into any form they considered 'less-than-human', which was really their polite way of saying 'ugly'. 'Moral grandstanding', the gerontocracy thought. 'They just didn't like the squat bodies or the turnip noses.' Thus the kobold was made to be 'cute' with its physical sensations dialed up in the belief that the peasants would be too focused on the pursuit of simple-minded pleasures to rise up again. And if they did, their cold-blooded bodies could be made lethargic and docile by something as simple as turning down the thermostat.

Lastly, the kobold's growth was tied to their hoarding instinct. If a kobold was well-fed and wealthy, it would grow. If starved or impoverished, it shrank. "Work hard," the gerontocracy would say, "and you too can become a powerful dragon." It was a wonderful piece of BioSocial engineering, a carrot and a stick to beat the lower classes with, and neatly shifted the blame to them for their own lowly station in life. In truth, only the wealthiest kobolds would ever reliably earn enough to grow larger than a house cat. They would become the first engineered slave race, cursed by their own biology to slave away forever or risk diminishing into nothing.

The kobold form was released with a massive ad campaign. Heavy tax incentives were offered for adopting it. The younger generations were sold promises of the cost savings of such an efficient body and the assurance that, with a few decades of hard work, they'd soon accrue the wealth needed to upgrade back to human. Ultimately, for the gerontocracy, it was a great success. Within a few years, a significant chunk of the population was regenerated as kobolds. Food consumption and housing remained stable for years, even as the total population continued to skyrocket.