“Going the extra mile” and taking on more responsibility is exactly how one escapes the monotony of minimum wage and low paying jobs.
You’re right - in a different time that was the case (and in some companies it might still be).
The simple truth is that in most cases it no longer provides any escape or extra income or recognition at all; this is a global phenomenon, and certainly isn’t restricted to low-wage jobs. In my case, I see people paid well who still won’t work as they did a few years ago; two factors appear to come into play: They are a couple of years from retirement, and new management isn’t learning how to replace them fast enough to dump them.
In terms of low-paying jobs, NJ has put employers in a position because our minimum wage is $13/hour (and will move to $14.13 on January 1) and all employers must now provide up to 40 hours of paid sick time to ALL employees (part-time, non-profit, etc. included; it is based on hours worked/”earned”). Because the minimum wage has been pushed so high, employees and bosses know that if pushed to hard, employees flee to lower-effort jobs that must still pay the same.