Why are low-paid jobs viewed so negatively when they still allow people to survive?

[YourWaryPlumBalonz]

This is something I've never quite understood.
A lot of people spend years getting degrees, professional qualifications and chasing promotions to avoid jobs such as cleaning, care work, retail, warehouse work, etc. Yet many people in those roles still manage to pay their bills, put food on the table and live their lives. They may never be wealthy, but neither are most professionals.
I understand wanting more money, but some discussions make it sound as though earning £25k-£30k is a disaster and anything less than a professional career is failure. Realistically, most people aren't becoming footballers, CEOs or David Beckham.
Is it mainly about:
Money and financial security?
Social status?
Working conditions?
Having more choices and opportunities?
Fear of struggling if costs rise unexpectedly?
Interested in hearing from people who actively worked hard to avoid lower-paid work. Was it the money itself, or something else?
Not judging anyone's choices. I'm genuinely curious why some jobs are viewed as something to escape from rather than simply another way of earning a living.

I would say a combo of the above. A lack of financial security, if both kf you are on minimum wage you can't qualify for a mortgage anywhere in my town. Therefore you are stuck in rental which are unsecured.

Also a financial cushion is important to me. To be clear I in no way look down on people on minimum wage jobs. I worked minimum wage, my mum was a child minder and a cleaner before that and my dad was a truck driver ( back in the 90s when the pay was rubbish for that job). I remember hiding from the milk man because my mum owed him money and we didn't have it. I remember going to the till in the supermarket and them having to scan stuff back as we couldn't afford to pay.

I remember a power outage that lasted like a week but only affected our house ( they didn't pay the bill). I don't want my kids to see those things. I don't want them to worry about money.

I will say I was lucky and went to uni in ireland where higher education was free. My mum lived close to the uni so I could stay living at home and due to low income parents I got a grant from the government to attend. The UK system makes social mobility harder so its not always easy to change.

I would advise my kids to train in something to give them some more financial security then minimum wage

For me it would be a combination of all of the things you have mentioned minus the social status.
I think that there are positives to the type of work you mention, but they are positives for the right type of person. In the same way there are negatives in career and status jobs which for some people would mean that the job would be an awful fit and the benefits wouldn’t be worth it.

yet plenty more kids want to become footballers than cleaners? so its the majority

All of the reasons you said really.
What I really dislike is when someone earning a lower income is seen as not working as hard as someone with a higher income.

I have an issue with people who react to others (on minimum wage/low paid jobs) by saying ‘well everyone can train or get higher paid careers’.

If it was possible to do so what do they think would happen to society if no one did these jobs? They’d be the first to complain if businesses closed due to no one working in retail/service etc positions.

These jobs exist and people are needed to do them. Often on shitty zero hours contracts and working around family and caring commitments and no scope for increasing income.

I come from a working class family, my grandparents worked in factories. They had a perfectly fine life, it was small and they did own a house, but it wasn’t something I wanted for myself. I was the first in my family to go to university and now earn nearly 6 figures in my early 30s. I wanted to do more than survive, to give my children experiences and security that I didn’t necessarily get.

my question is why do people avoid going into those jobs

Agree, it's the lack of stability. My own DP were happy to do minimum wage jobs to tide them over before they retired but they had paid off their mortgage by then and just needed a stop gap.

The lack of financial security is the main reason

Because they want more?
My parents were working class, we had enough to eat and an annual holiday in a caravan, and I have no complaints. But I wanted more than that, and I don’t think there’s any shame in that?

I don’t think low paid jobs are viewed negatively. If I see anyone working I think good on them, that job must have been hard to get and they are doing a good job.
I thinks times have massively changed and getting any job is really difficult.

As I've said before on here those are sort of interim jobs not careers, getting stuck in one is a bit peculiar in my opinion. I know this is not a popular opinion on here, but I suppose some of it has to do with class expectations.

Do you not think those of us who work in jobs like care don’t deserve more? It’s disgusting the way those us of who do essential work are treated like 💩 by a huge proportion of society.

As well as financial security, I also wanted a job that was mentally stimulating for me. And for me, that was a professional role. I also would hate an outdoor job or one that is physically demanding.

Horses for courses really. Some people would find dealing with the public mentally stimulating, I would find that exhausting. I do have colleagues but we mainly work independently. I like that freedom and the autonomy to arrange me work how I want to.

Exactly. Rents are high and 1million people are on zero hours contracts - never knowing what hours they'll get and whether they'll be able to pay bills, buy enough food etc.

In addition we, the tax payers, are topping up the poverty wages which the same companies are paying even though they're making massive profits for their share holders.
'Trickle down' plans don't work. These companies off shore their profits and avoid taxation.
They may of course be going down a road which will end in their own collapse as people on poverty wages will not be able to buy the goods / services the companies hope to sell. Short sighted and self destructive, not to mention immoral.

Because in 2026 most people have a higher bar than just survival.

Social mobility is hard these days & if you want security you need to own your house as there is far less social housing these days

I guess I am soneone who 'actively worked hard to avoid lower-paid work'. Why? I guess for all of the reasons you listed but mostly money. I wanted to be able to afford to buy a house in a nice area, to go on lots of nice holidays, to be able to sign my children up for any activities they wanted, to pay for tutors or private schooling, etc.

This exactly. And a lot of the time they are actually working much harder

Yeah true. I was unfortunate enough to work in an office once. Absolutely hated it. Unsure why it's seen as the " holy grail" on here

They are only viewed negatively by snobs.

Is it though?

When I started out working it was all open plan with partitions separating desks. I hated that I then moved to a job where we all have our own offices which I much prefer. I also.work from home a fair bit. We're short on office space now so newer people and lower grade admin staff share. They can put two people in my office when I retire. No way am I agreeing to sharing.

What type of work do you do now? Feel free to be vague😁

I agree 100%

And yet the people on those same jobs are blamed for their own poverty.

I’ve worked as a carer and a teaching assistant. Both times there was no money left at the end of the month and I don’t live extravagantly. They were both also extraordinary hard work. Low pay, low status and a life where you’ve got nothing much left after the essential expenditures. No fun, they’re also not that rewarding either, they should be, but they’re not. So there’s literally not many bonuses.

I work in a professional job, I wanted a stable income and a good disposable income. My dad was a taxi driver, and we struggled financially if he had a few weeks with reduced fares. Money woes also caused a lot of rows between my parents, and I wanted to avoid that.

If I am honest, I dont find my job all that enjoyable but the wages are decent.