Being barefoot doesn’t mean your feet are under load. So people are usually barefoot when at home or just hanging around. So minimal steps at minimal intensity. Our feet evolved to work with minimal covering so cushion does not need to be there. On the flip side cushion tends to allow for bad habits when walking and running as the cushion protects but long term those habits can be bad.

There are many ways to strengthen your feet. But the more time you can spend doing things with intensity in minimal shoes or barefoot can increase foot strength. So getting minimal running shoes and working out in them or running short distances in them and slowly increasing it. But i really think foot health is neglected. I largely wear nothing with cushion and spend much of my days on my feet at 47. Also am a runner and do that in minimal shoes with little to no foot pain. I wouldn’t do a marathon in them but I routinely do 10-15kms at a time in them without issue or foot pain.