WORKERS
|
WHAT FACTORS AFFECT AN INDIVIDUAL'S CHOICE OF OCCUPATION?
WHAT DETERMINES WAGES IN A MARKET? WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR DIFFERENCES IN EARNINGS IN A MARKET? EXPLAIN THE BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE DIVISION OF LABOUR AND SPECIALISATION |
|
1. FACTORS AFFECTING AN INDIVIDUALS CHOICE OF OCCUPATION
|
|
ACTIVITY 1: IN PAIRS COMPLETE ACTIVITY 3.11 ON PAGE 163. Please write in full sentences so that your notes are easily revised from. Make some brief notes around a spider diagram on 'Payments for labour' from page 164 and using the occupations from the previous activity give some examples of the type of workers that would receive each type of payment.
|
|
|
|
|
ACTIVITY 2: CHOOSING AN OCCUPATION. Most people specialize in a particular activity or occupation for all or most of their working lives so how do people choose an occupation to supply their labour to?
Use the following websites to create a 'job description' for your dream job (or just one you're interested in!). Include some of the typical tasks that a worker employed in this occupation would complete and the wage and non-wage factors that would attract a worker to this job. You should create the job description on a single page and you might like to present it in the style of an infographic. |
|
|
|
|
2. WHAT DETERMINES WAGES IN A MARKET?
|
INTRODUCTION: Wage rates are determined in the 'Labour Market'. The labour market is like any other market in that the PRICE OF LABOUR (The Wage Rate) is determined by the forces of supply and demand. It's important to understand who is doing the demanding and who is doing the supplying in the Labour Market. Firms demand labour, west that the demand for labour is derived from the demand for the goods and services produced by the firm. It is of course households and workers that supply their labour to the labour market. Why has the role switched because the labour market is an example of a 'Factor Market'. Firms demand labour, households and workers supply it. What are the factors then that will affect the demand and supply of labour?
|
ACTIVITY 1: Can you name the price for the following occupations. Work in pairs and see how many you can guess correct.
|
|
|
$67-110k a Year
$160-270k a Year
$45-75k a Year
$18-36k a Year
$32-53k a Year
$79-180k a Year
$19-39k a Year
$36-74K a Year
|
|
ACTIVITY 2: From the previous activity you should be able to hypothesize/speculate some of the factors that affect the demand for labour and some of those that affect the supply of labour. You will make notes on these from page 170-171.
These changes can be shown using supply and demand analysis just as we did at the beginning of the course for goods and services. The only difference is that the labour market is a 'Factor market', firms demand labour and workers supply it. Copy down the 4 diagrams below and annotate them to explain the changes and outcomes shown.
These changes can be shown using supply and demand analysis just as we did at the beginning of the course for goods and services. The only difference is that the labour market is a 'Factor market', firms demand labour and workers supply it. Copy down the 4 diagrams below and annotate them to explain the changes and outcomes shown.
WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR DIFFERENCES IN EARNINGS IN A MARKET?
|
|
|
WHAT EXPLAINS OCCUPATIONAL WAGE DIFFERENTIALS?
ACTIVITY 1: Using the factors on pages 171-174 Explain why there are likely to be such large occupational wage differentials within the same industry. Choose some data from each of the 4 tables of data to support your point. You can use the following sentence starters to get you going: 1. "Different abilities and qualifications (brief explanation) are a cause of wage differentials because..........................An example of this would be................................................(use table including reference to data) 2. "Dirty jobs and unsociable hours (brief explanation) are a cause of wage differentials because..........................An example of this would be................................................(use table including reference to data) 3. "Job satisfaction (brief explanation) are a cause of wage differentials because..........................An example of this would be................................................(use table including reference to data) 4. Labour immobility (brief explanation) are a cause of wage differentials because..........................An example of this would be................................................(use table including reference to data) |
| workers_18.pdf |
|
|
|
3.THE MINIMUM WAGE DEBATE
|
INTRODUCTION: You are going to debate the effectiveness of minimum wages in groups. Minimum wages are legally mandated (laws) for the price of labour. Minimum wages differ from one country to another and there are many justifications for having them. In Economics however there are always trade -off in economics and minimum wages are no different. Economists must understand before they introduce or raise a minimum wage what the positive or negative effects are likely to be and then reach a balanced judgement the weighs up the priorities of society and engages in the trade-off (or opportunity cost of the decision)
Enquiry Questions:
1. Tell me something you know from the image above?
2. What economic policies may be effective in dealing with this issue?
3. Evaluate using a range of evidence the pros and cons of using a particular policy to deal with this.
1. Tell me something you know from the image above?
2. What economic policies may be effective in dealing with this issue?
3. Evaluate using a range of evidence the pros and cons of using a particular policy to deal with this.
|
|
|
|
4. EXPLAIN THE BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE DIVISION OF LABOUR AND SPECIALISATION |
HOW: Watch the following video guides to specialization and the division of labour and complete the tasks on the handout.
WHY: To understand that increasing Specialization and the Division of Labour are the source of increases in human economic productivity and therefore wealth in the economy. Together with other benefits there are some downsides to S and the D of L.
WHY: To understand that increasing Specialization and the Division of Labour are the source of increases in human economic productivity and therefore wealth in the economy. Together with other benefits there are some downsides to S and the D of L.
|
Pre-thoughts, hypothesis and reflection:
What will happen to the supply curve as firms exploit the benefits of specialization and division of labour? What happens to the quantity of goods produced? What happens to the price of those goods? How does this benefit society? |
MAIN ACTIVITY: Read through the handout and complete the note-taking tasks. The video clips that you will need to watch are below:
You can download a copy here:
| specialisation_and_the_division_of_labour.docx |
|
|
|
HOME LEARNING: Complete this handout for home learning.
| workers_18.pdf |