Key concepts: -the formal economy > officially approved economy - the informal economy > earnings paid in cash to avoid paying national insurance, Tax and VAT -status and social class > most people categorise their identity and status through what they do as a job - life chances > how money is earned, in what way, in what conditions etc - unemployment > not having a job - The claimant count > those who are unemployed but are actively looking for work -craft production > work done in the home before industrialisation > the worker has full control over the entire making of the product -industrial society > production of goods carried out by machines/ urban based/ factories and offices/ working for others rather than self-produced -division of labour > work split up into specialised tasks -mechanization > work done by machines - assembly line > a line of factory workers where work is passed through -Fordism > standardised form of mass production (Henry Ford) - alienation > workers are provided with no job satisfaction from their work and their work becomes meaningless/ often never see the final product being made -trade unions > organisations protecting their members interest in regards to work e.g. bargain better wages/improve working hours/ fight unfair dismissal/ provide legal assistance/ act as a pressure group
Key research -Unemployment > problems of unemployment stats: disguised unemployed, those staying on at school because they cant find work, under 18 and over 60 who aren't counted as unemployed -causes of unemployment > development of new technology/increase in working population/foreign competition/lack of skills required -attempts to reduce unemployment> welfare to work scheme/more retraining opportunities/job training schemes/vocational education -who is at most risk > (18-24) as they lack training and experience, (over 55) as they have limited working life, non-white people, men more than women as men are more likely to seek the better paid jobs -consequences of unemployment > loss of identity, mounting debts, poverty, social isolation, bad health, increase in stress -Taylorism >Federick Winslow Taylor (1865-1915)> simple operations that are timed and organised to ensure maximum output -Fordism > Henry Ford > mass production through the use of assembly lines (making the same product over and over) -Post Fordism > specialised markets/ smaller and more flexible manufacturing -Changing technology > new skills needed as old ones become irrelevant/ machines taken over workers/ deskills jobs/threatens existing jobs/consumers have much more choice for personalisation -Patterns of employment > growth of the service economy/ decline in manual and increase in non-manual work/increase in skilled work/core and periphery workers (core = full time, well paid, stable and periphery= part time, temporary, work on a casual basis)/ growing employment of women -Housework > Ann Oakley (1977) > housework seen as women's work and is 'invisible work' - it separates women into the home -gender inequalities in the work place > pay/opportunities/status/glass ceiling/employment barriers/maternal leave
Key theories: Feminists > gender inequality in the work place > wage gape/ job status/ glass ceiling/ triple shift for women Marxists > alienation within the work place/ capitalism -including the bourgeoisie and proletariat McDonalidsation > Ritzer (1993) work culture adopts a fast food restaurant - standardisation, predictability, calculability, control Globalist theories and Modernisation theories > big links to TNC's Pedagogy 1) give the pupils an identity and get them to write the best CV they can and prepare for an interview. Ask one child to be the employer of the group but explain to them that there is a candidate to pick that will most likely get the job (White, male, middle class) - once they have picked ask the pupils if they can figure out why that person was chosen. (Incorporate an Apprentice style here) 2) design a case study of a worker who have faced inequality within the workplace - get the children to write a letter of complaint to trade unions and asking them what they wish should happen 3) unemployment > set up different tables with large pieces of paper with different topics including: effects on unemployment/how to help prevent unemployment/why unemployment stats are unreliable - ask the children to go round in groups to add to these mind maps 4) end of lesson question: Western society is based on equality? > write as much as you can 5) Homework task - essay question (found on exam board website)