Labor

During the Victorian Era from 1873-1901, the urban working class’ life was unbearable because they often had to work from an early age in mines or streets, grow up and work jobs that no one wanted like scavenging for valuables in toxic water, and live in workhouses which was government housing for the poor. From an early age, a boy or girl born into the working class had to work to survive. Then he or she would have to get a job, if not they would have to live and work in the worst place…

sweatshop items. Sweatshops are not the problem. Without them the producers would not be able to keep up with the demanding consumer society. The habits of these workplaces need to be changed on behalf of its workers. Todd Pugatch has dealt with labor economics for several years. He is currently an Economics Professor at Oregon State University. One of Mr. Pugatch’s publications is titled,…

separation has left the most hardworking people (mothers) as ‘dependents’ who are considered not working and who have to be supported. This devalues the individuals who work as their child’s caretaker making it appear that raising a child does not include labor intensive work. Even though the future of the economy is in the hands of those who are raising the next generation's human capital they are viewed as a private good. Since human capital accounts for 75% of “the producible forms of…

Property Rights One of the largest objections against lessening immigration restrictions has to do with property rights. Those against immigration many times compare countries to households, with citizens being members of the household, and immigrants as a housemate who is not paying the monthly rent3. They will argue that if US natives would not let someone into their home and use their private property, then, there is no reason to let them into the country. It is the idea that the people and…

The Civil Right to Equal Pay In the United States, the notion that women can perform any task at the same ability as a man is normally considered the truth. There are female physicians, female police officers, and females serving in the army. All of these occupations lead one to believe that women can do any job a man can do, but the simple truth is that women still do not get paid equally when compared to men. Even after the passing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women working full time “still…

Canada is one of the many first-world countries who use sweatshops; achieving a more profitable, yet cheaper way of making their consumer products more successful. This paper will expose the truth behind sweatshops and their positioning in the industry. It is the responsibility of these companies to ensure the safety and equal labour laws of the manufacturers. However, none of these are actually applied to the people in factories who make these products. Due to the inhumane conditions that…

Barbara Ehrenreich’s book “Nickle and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America” was mainly focused on poverty in the United States, but her experiences with low-wage employment display many struggles women have succeeding in our currently sex-stratified labor market. Her experiments in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota demonstrate how women’s work is continually devalued in our society through lack of available positions, as well as underpaying for jobs that are specifically targeted towards women. A…

“Piece rate” payment is in fashion to keep labor costs low where sweatshops wage are based on the number of items – shirts, shoes, socks – they complete in a shift which shows that they have to work hard and work long. In “Free Trade Agreements and a Global Economy Increase Sweatshops”, a Mexican…

lives of both white and black women. Women in slavery experienced hardships and effects that men in slavery never experienced. One of the primary roles that a slave woman had was motherhood. After the child was old enough for labor, the slave mother was trained to labor in a domestic setting or work in the fields. Young enslaved women were expected to be maids, cleaners and some were employed as wet nurses and even breastfed the children of the slave master. There were more women then men…

mandated paid maternal leave; California and New Jersey have six weeks and Rhode Island has four weeks. The amount of money that is paid for the benefit by the employer or employee, is very minuscule; cents on the dollar. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 12% of Americans have access to paid maternity leave, with only 5% of low-wage earners are able to receive paid maternity leave. Researchers have found that women who don’t receive paid maternity leave are more likely to drop…