LS12- Labour Market Issues

Question 1

List the 5 labour market issues

Answer 1

• zero-hours contracts (job insecurity & unstable income)
• discrimination (e.g. gender pay gap)
• education & training (e.g. not enough people choose a-level maths etc)
• shortages (e.g. farming sector labour shortages, strict visas on low-skilled workers)
• retirement (less generous social security and disability insurance, mortality rates declined)

Question 2

Pros of trade unions

Answer 2

• counter balance monopsony power e.g. farmers against supermarket big 4
• higher wages -> wage efficiency theory
• improve working conditions and lead to productivity deals (bringing in new practises to increase labour efficiency)

Question 3

Cons of trade unions

Answer 3

• in a competitive labour market, trade unions can push wages above equilibrium -> unemployment + possible cost-push inflation
• time lost to strikes leads to losses in productivity and ripple effects if key industry e.g. transport