I worked unskilled manual labor jobs (ranching/landscaping/construction/roughnecking/etc.) in the southern US starting age 14 during high school, then through u

I worked unskilled manual labor jobs (ranching/landscaping/construction/roughnecking/etc.) in the southern US starting age 14 during high school, then through university to pay for tuition (sometimes working two jobs), and after university in the oilfields until I finally found a white collar job utilizing my degree. It is back breaking work, sometimes in 100°+ heat/12 hr days, typically with zero health benefits. Many times employers are happy to use people up. The chance of injury is high, and even in skilled trades the longterm career sustainability is tough and hard on the body. It is also sometimes a culturally abrasive/toxic work environment, with hazing and poor leadership. I quickly decided that was not the life I wanted, and leveraged my degree into something else. I think that in the US some of the primary reasons people leave or avoid blue collar/hard hat industries is due to the risk of injury and poor quality/nonexistent or unaffordable healthcare.