Sentence:  Their own easier , slower tempo is especially dear to Southerners ; and I have heard many say that they <WSD>are</WSD> content to earn a half or a third as much as they could up North because they so much prefer the quieter habits of their home town . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)