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Am I correct in thinking casual work is easier to find in the USA? I actually worked for a week in a car wash just north of San Diego in 1980 and slept on the nearby beach. Good times!
Since I have only lived in USA, I can't compare. But low pay work here won't include paid sick time off, paid vacations, paid holidays, health insurance, or other such benefits. In many cases it won't include any form of unemployment insurance either. In urban settings, landscape work or part of a crew for re-roofing buildings comes to mind. In more rural areas, some agriculture work.
Back in the 1980s when unemployment level here was over 10 percent, that included me. I was paid by check, not cash. And years later I learned that my payroll deduction for social security taxes was pocketed by the employer too.