$1 isn't terrible if the cost of living is substantially lower than here - it's all relative, it's why banks and huge corporations send all of their offices overseas.
In some countries qualified nurses only earn $37.50 per week for a 40 hour week, so someone getting to work at home as a VA for the same money isn't that bad.
We think $1 per hour is bad because over here it wouldn't be possible to live off it, $40 per week wouldn't even cover a cup of coffee and a sticky bun a day at Starbucks.
Elsewhere in the world $40 would pay for food, rent, electric, gas, water, and everything else.