[TMWNN]

>getting paid LESS than the total cost to do the job

Why do you assume that those workers are so stupid, as to not be able to calculate whether the job in question is worth their while? Perhaps they, with better insight into their own financials, have decided that you may be incorrect?

[pierat]

Sometimes, it is stupid.

Other times, its cause the costs are well hidden UNTIL its time to pay them. And the "gig" seems to pay quite well, until it doesn't. The company side has actuaries to assess risk and understand accurate costs, all the way down to the make/model/year/mileage of your car. You, well, dont. Its all about information asymmetry.

Many times, its simple desperation. When there isn't anything else, you do what you can, even though you're being taken advantage of.

[silverquiet]

Prepare to learn something new - sometimes people don’t make the wisest financial decisions for themselves. Poor people seem even more affected by this sort of irrational behavior.

[floatrock]

Or perhaps they know it's bad long-term, but they're delaying tomorrow to feed themselves today. Sure, they know it'll put more wear on their vehicle, but as long as the breakdown happens in another month or two, well, maybe something else will come along before then.

Some might call this just getting by, some might say this is what climbing the ladder looks like, and some might call this a poverty trap -- the longer you just scrape by, the harder it is to escape.

The debate is about do you call these opportunities or exploitations. It's realistically both, and so you gotta ask yourself how much exploitation are you willing to tolerate before the pizza starts to taste a bit icky? And when it does, how much are you willing to pay to make that pizza conflict-free?