Labour discrimination Flashcards
What are zero hours contracts
Contracts that allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of work, therefore no guaranteed hours
Why does zero hour contracts reduce financial stability of workers?
No guaranteed income if there are no guaranteed hours and also underemployment if employers provide less hours than desired
What is the gender pay gap
What is the issue with the gig economy?
Many more people are now self-employed and undertake short term contracts, working for companies such as Uber and Deliveroo. There are concerns over the rights of these workers and the unreliability of their pay each week.
Issues with young workers?
Workers who join the workforce during recessions tend to receive lower lifetime earnings than those who enter the labour force in better times. Youth unemployment can be a particular issue; during hard times, firms are unlikely to employ new workers but are reluctant to let go of their current workers and so the young struggle to get a job
Which sectors struggle with skills shortages?
IT, construction, healthcare, leisure and other services and hospitality
Why is the farming sector struggling with skill shortages?
depends on seasonal workers from central and eastern europe to pick harvest but this is at risk bc of brexit and also agricultural worker scheme which helped this was stopped
Why is care sector struggling
- one in every six social care roles are filled by carers who are from outside of the uk and brexit has capped low skilled workers from eu coming to the uk
- lack of pay increases and funding due to decade of austerity
- ageing population means not enough carers for the size of ageing pop
What is the labour market issue of retirement
- Pensioners now makeup over 50% of welfare spending.
- less workers in the population, therefiore labour supply falls
How do we resolve retirement
- retrain older population to leanr skills so they enjoy new work
- increase state pension age
- anti-age discrim legislation
- flexible working; less hours, working in day so they can enjoy it and keep thme busy
Why does the gender pay gap (wage differential exist)
- wage move in and out of labour force due to mat leave and rasing kids so lose chance to develop experience and skills, MRP falls/decreases so earning potential is limited whereas men are more attached
- age of being economically inactive (late20s and early 30s) is where most people dirve on their careers and gain promotion
- diff in education/qualifications: this only holds for developing countries bc men get more edu oppotunities so they have higher MRP therefore higher potential earnings
- Women end up in low paid occupations, factually proven to see them in: part time work, service sector work, public sector work (lack of pay increases), vocational work, lack of trade
- increase in supply of female workers drives down wage rate bc it is easier to get qualificaitons and it more socially acceptable
- discrimination
Why does the ethnic group wage differential exist
- minority groups on average less qualified - lower mrp so earning potential is low
- lack of language proficiencyreduces productivity and employabiliyt, esp in higher paid occupations like banking, legal
- concentration of such workers in low pay sectors keeps wages low
- living in more deprived areas of the country bc housing is cheaper here limits earning here due to less jobs available
- reluctance to migrate earn more e.g cultural compulsions to stay close to family prevents people from moving to better jobs
- discrimination
What is the result of discrimination
- unequal distribution of wealth and income and can lead to misallocation of resources, reduced efficiency and increased costs
Pros of wage differentials: incentive
- incentives: motivates you to gain skills and qualification to boost MRP and productivity,
- individual: gains work in higher paid occupations so higher income
- economy: higher labour productivity brings down costs for firms and increase intl competitiveness, long run growth (lras to the right, sustainable growth)
Pros of wage differential: trickle down effect:
- High wage earners spend money and demand fro goods and services increase, so multiplier effect occurs and workers in these popular industries see rise in wages and job creation.
- progressive taxation is then used to tax high income earners more and use this as an income boost to the poorer ones
- BUT high income earners have high MPS so they don’t spend, TDE doesn’t happen or it is spent abroad, or even tax avoidance
