Not just base rate pay but, also, the motivation to do a low-skilled job isn't just to earn enough money to survive but also to improve one's life over the long

Not just base rate pay but, also, the motivation to do a low-skilled job isn't just to earn enough money to survive but also to improve one's life over the long term. It used to be the case you could do a labouring job where there would be regular overtime, often paid at a premium. I had one such job many years ago and could double my regular pay by working a few extra hours each day. Then employers realised instead of paying premium overtime rates they could just hire another person at basic rate. Not sure what the situation is now but back then it became normal for jobs to advertised at 16 hours a week. In effect, these employers were employing 3 or 4 people where they would previously employ one and they could do this because 16 hours turned out to be the optimum amount someone receiving benefits could work and receive a top-up to get a survivable amount of money each month.