wage labor

Examples of wage labor in the following topics:

• Capitalism

  • An example of the state's involvement in capitalist economies is the development of minimum wage laws.
  • Capitalism is generally considered by scholars to be an economic system that includes private ownership of the means of production, creation of goods or services for profit or income, the accumulation of capital, competitive markets, voluntary exchange, and wage labor.
  • Most political economists emphasize private property, power relations, wage labor, class and capitalism's as a unique historical formation.

• Market-Oriented Theories

  • According to market-oriented theories of inequality, the low wage earned by seasonal agricultural laborers will encourage members of the labor pool to acquire other skills, which in term will raise the wage earned by agricultural laborers.
  • The model is commonly applied to wages, in the market for labor.
  • As populations increase, wages fall for any given unskilled or skilled labor supply.
  • According to market-oriented theories, over time the low wages earned by agricultural laborers will induce more people to learn other skills, thus reducing the pool of agricultural laborers.
  • With less supply and stable demand, the wage for agricultural labor will rise to a sustainable level.

• Marx's View of Class Differentiation

  • In Marx's view, social stratification is created by people's differing relationship to the means of production: either they own productive property or they labor for others.
  • The working class, or the proletariat, only possess their own labor power, which they sell to the ruling class in the form of wage labor to survive.
  • These relations of production—employer-employee relations, the technical division of labor, and property relations—form the base of society or, in Marxist terms, the substructure.
  • " Marxism is associated with a view of stratification that pits the owners of means of production against the laborers.

• Migration

  • Industrialization also sparked transnational labor migration that has further swelled urban populations.
  • According to neoclassical economic theory, labor migration is motivated primarily by wage differences between two geographic locations.
  • These differences can usually be explained by differences in the supply of and demand for labor.
  • Areas with a shortage of labor but an excess of capital will have a high relative wage, whereas areas with a high labor supply and a dearth of capital will have a low relative wage.
  • Following neoclassical principles, migrants tend to move from low-wage areas to high-wage areas where their labor is in higher demand.

• Growing Gap Between Rich and Poor

  • In the capitalist market, the wages for jobs are set by supply and demand.
  • If there are many workers willing to do a job for a great amount of time, there is a high supply of labor for that job.
  • If few people need that job done, there is low demand for that type of labor.
  • When there is high supply and low demand for a job, it results in a low wage.
  • The gap in wages produces inequality between different types of workers.

• Labor Unions

  • Labor unions provide members with the power of collective bargaining over and fight for workers rights.
  • Labor unions are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries in the United States.
  • Labor union's activism centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions.
  • In 2007, the Labor Department reported the first increase in union memberships in 25 years and the largest increase since 1979.
  • Outline the development and purpose of labor unions for workers in society

• Ominous Trends in the U.S.

  • As technology increases productivity, it tends to reduce the demand for labor, eliminating jobs and creating unemployment.
  • In the 18th and 19th centuries, most farm labor was done by hand or with the help of draft animals.
  • In general, industry is becoming more information-intensive, less labor-intensive, and less capital-intensive.
  • As technology advances, workers are becoming increasingly productive, but the value of labor, and the demand for labor, are both decreasing.
  • They are able to compete successfully in the world market and command high wages.

• Learning the Gender Gap

  • Most who study the gender wage gap assume that it is not due to differences in ability between genders - while in general men may be better at physical labor, the pay gap persists in other employment sectors as well.
  • The total wage gap in the United States is 20.4 percent.
  • A study commissioned by the United States Department of Labor, prepared by Consad Research Corp, asserts that there are "observable differences in the attributes of men and women that account for most of the wage gap.
  • Statistical analysis that includes those variables has produced results that collectively account for between 65.1 and 76.4 percent of a raw gender wage gap of 20.4 percent, and thereby leave an adjusted gender wage gap that is between 4.8 and 7.1 percent. " Thus, only a relatively small part of the wage gap is due to explicit discrimination .
  • Discuss the impact the gener pay/wage gap can have on both men and, in particular, women, in the economic world

• The Changing Face of the Workplace

  • They are able to compete successfully in the world market and command higher wages.
  • They either lose their jobs through outsourcing or are forced to accept wage cuts.
  • Industry is becoming more information-intensive and less labor and capital-intensive.
  • Not only is the value of labor decreased, the value of capital is also diminished.
  • The polarization of jobs into relatively high-skill, high wage jobs and low-skill, low-wage jobs has led to a growing disparity between incomes of the rich and poor.

• Gender

  • Current U.S. labor force statistics illustrate women's changing role in the labor force.
  • Women's participation in the labor force also varies depending on marital status and social class.
  • Sociological research shows that women are not paid the same wages as men for similar work.
  • Up until the 19th Century most women could not own property and women's participation in the paid labor force outside the home was limited.
  • Wages based upon gender and education point to a distinctive glass ceiling as it pertains to women in the workplace.