Contemporary British Culture & Society ( 5 )

Chapter 5 Work

Xiao Huiyun

October, 2005

A 1 What is “Work”?

Work: regular paid employment Work: paid employment at a job or a trade,

occupation, or profession Important – 1. material consequences of work

2. the individual & cultural benefits of work

Unemployment – having disastrous implications for the individual, identified with rejection, uselessness, dependence on others, laziness and social isolation

A 2 Pattern of Employment'000s '000s%

Type of Industry

1981 2000 2000

1. Primary:- 1,043 755 2.7

Agriculture, forestry, fishing

343 538 1.9

Energy and water supply

700 217 0.8

2. Manufacturing

6,099 4,285 15.3

3. Construction 1,102 1,823

6.5

4. Services:- 13,142 21,106

75.5

Distribution, hotels and restaurants

4,093 6,144 22.0

Transport and communications

1,404 1,696 6.1

Finance and business services

1,712 5,151 18.4

Public administration, education and health

4,650 6,479 23.2

Other 1,315 1,637 5.9

Total 21,386 27,677 100

A 2 Pattern of Employment

Total Workforce in UK: 28.6 m (2000 fig.) 27 million (15 million men and 12 million women)

were actually in employment. 2.8 million were self-employed Of the total population of working age of 36.3

million, 7.7 million were ‘economically inactive’ (early retired, women with children, adults in education and training)

1.6 million clas-sified as unemployed

A 2 Pattern of Employment cont

Unemployment rates in Uk England -- rates were lowest in the South

East(3.3 per cent) and in the East (3.6 per cent) and highest in the North East and London, 9.1 per cent and 7.0 per cent respectively.

. Rates were also high in Scotland (7.6 per cent) and Northern Ireland (7.0 per cent).

A 2 Pattern of Employment cont

A 2 Pattern of Employment

Gross weekly earnings Average gross weekly earnings of full-time employees

in 2000 were £411. Average earnings for men were £453 and for women

£338. Earnings were higher for non-manual employees

(£465) than for manual employees (£321). The national minimum wage was set at £3.70 per hour

for those aged 22 or above. The inequality in income is marginally reduced by

taxation

A 2 Pattern of Employment

Distribution of usual weekly hours of work: by gender, Spring 2000

United Kingdom Thousands Males Females

A 3 Getting a Job

About 25% of school leavers go straight into a job at 16, the rest either continuing in full-time education or joining a government training scheme.

There are a number of ways in which people go about finding a job. The search for a job can involve

Personal contacts Visiting potential employers in the factory or office Looking for advertisements in local and national newspapers Using the government run 'Job Centres', which provide

information and advise potential employees on jobs in the locality

Large employers will sometimes take the initiative in recruiting graduates by visiting universities to advertise job prospects available

A 4 Unions & Management Trade  unions: first formed in the early stages of  the Industrial

Revolution, by groups of industrial workers who suffered from extremely low pay and bad working conditions

In 1999 there were 242 trade unions in the UK with 7.8 million members, of which almost 1/3 were women.

Over one third of all trade unionists belong to white collar unions There are four types of union: General Unions, which represent workers in a range of industries. Craft Unions, which represent workers from a group of industries who

share a particular skill Industrial Unions, which represent workers in a particular industry

whatever their skill e.g. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) White Collar Unions, which represent non-manual workers e.g. The

National Union of Teachers (NUT)

A 4 Unions & Management

Pros. they are essential for

protecting the interests of employees who might otherwise get a raw deal  from  powerful employers or in  industries  which  are declining and  where redundancies are highly  likely.

unions  played  an active part in persuading the  government  to pass  the Health and Safe Act

they offer a range of services, particularly through the TUC.

Cons trade unions make excessive

 wage claims union elections are

undemocratic unions have become too

powerful and should have their ‘wings clipped’.

they undermine the competitiveness of British industry because of restrictive practices & opposition to technological progress

A 4 Unions & Management

New Style Management – Japanese Influence Only one union representing workers Disputes that cannot be settled by union &

management will be decided by arbitrator No industrial actions (strikes) are used in disputes Workers enjoy same benefits and perks as

managers Pay rises reflect increase in productivity. Workers work in groups. (Compare Ford & Nissan pp 84 – 85)

A 4 Unions & Management

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) -- most unions ( 70 )are affiliated to it

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) –employers’ associations affiliated to it

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Services (ACAS) -- set up by government playing important role in ‘new style agreement

TUC may continue to be important for its range of activities even though number of strikes has been declining & ‘new style agreements’ increasing.

A 4 Unions & Management

TUC Congress 2003

A 5 Gender & Ethnicity The UK has the highest female employment rate of the

major EU countries and fourth highest of all European Union countries, just behind Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Amongst other European countries, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland all have female employment rates greater than the UK’s.

Equal opportunities legislation introduced in the form of the Equal Pay Act, 1970s, therefore unlawful to discriminate between men and women in pay and other terms of employment

The Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and the Race Relations Act (1976) seek to ensure people are not discriminated against in selection for jobs on grounds of sex or race

Despite all the acts ethnic minority have more difficulties in finding jobs than the whites.

A 5 Gender & Ethnicity

Position of women has improved considerably, but some problems still exist

In British politics women are continuing their long march toward equality .

In the May 1997 general election 101 female Labour members of Parliament (MPs) were elected to the 659-seat House of Commons.

Britain has one of the lowest levels of women MPs in Europe, just 18 per cent, compared with 43 per cent in Sweden and 31 per cent in Germany.

The recent elections to the Welsh Assembly returned, for the first time in any assembly in Britain, an equal 50:50 split between men and women.

A 5 Gender & Ethnicity

Women MPs, 1997 Thatcher broke through the glass ceiling of British politics when she was elected prime minister in 1979. In office, however, she did little to encourage women in politics.

In 1997 Blair appointed five women to senior positions, including Mo Mowlam as secretary of state for Northern Ireland.