The social problem of work inequality.docx

The social problem of work inequality.docx

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Thesocialproblemofworkinequality

SocialProblemPolicyPaper1—ApplyingFunctionalismTheory

（1）Identifyasocialproblemwithintheassignedchapters:

Thisessayisaimedtodiscussthesocialproblemofworkinequality.Inthisessay,wewillbrieflydiscusstheworkinequalityintheUnitedStates.

（2）Factstodefinethesocialproblem:

a.Thewagesfornonsupervisoryworkers.

Although,withthedevelopmentofsociety,manypeopleinwellfeelthattheirincomehasbeenincreasing,atleastnotdecreasingexcepttheyearsineconomiccrisis.Butinfact,theaverage（real）incomeandpurchasingpowerforUnitedStatespeoplearedecreasing,especiallyforthosenormalworkers（alsowecancallthemnonsupervisoryworkers）.

b.TheaveragelaborhoursforworkersinUnitedStates:

Notonlytherealincomeshowtheworkinequalityissue,theaveragelaborhourforAmericanworkersalsocanreflecttheproblem.TheaveragelaborhoursforworkersinUnitedStatesisincreasingwhiletherealwagesforperlaborhourisdeclining.Andworkersneedtoincreasetheirworkinghourstofulfiltheirneeds.

c.TheeconomicandemploymentstructureinUnitesStates:

Theriseofserviceeconomyincreasesthepercentageofworkerswhoworkinservices-providingwhilethewagesofservices-providingisquitelowertothemanufacturingandtheworkinghoursofservices-providingishigher.Thus,inthatway,manyAmericanworkersareworkforlowpaidbutmorehoursjobs.

（3）Analysis:

Inthetextbook,functionalismis“basedontheidealthatsocietyisanincreasinglycomplexorganismthatmustfulfillcertainbasicfunction—economic,politicalandsocial—tocontinueitssurvival”（Dolgou,Baker,2011）.Hence,wecanfirstlyanalysisourproblemwithfactsforhowmuchpaidworkersactuallygetandhowlongtheyneedtoworktoshowtheworkinequalityproblem.

IfwelookattheaverageandmedianannualwagesinUnitedStates,wecanconcludethatthewageisgoingup.Inanotherword,eventhewagesworkersgetaregrowingslowlyeveryyear,butthetendencyofincreasingwagesisstableandwethinkwithtimegoingby,theworkers’salarieswillincreaseandthepurchasingpowerandlivequalityofworkersarebecomingbetterandbetter.However,ifwechoosetoanalysisthedataofrealincomeandthepercentagesofchangesforincomeeveryyear,wecanfindthatthefactisthewagesworkerscangetarenearlynotincreasedandthepurchasingpowerofworkersisgoingdowninfact.

ChartIChartII

Thenifweturntotheincreaserateofourincome,wecandiscoverthatforaveragehourlyincome,itisgoinguponthesurfacewhileitisalmostnotchanginginfact.Andtheincreasingrateofwageshasthedecliningtendencyformorethan10years（althoughthegraphonlyhasthedatato2014,butthetendencyandforecastfortheincomecanshowthedeclining）.During2006to2008,theaverageincomehadincreasedquitemore,butcomparedtotheinflationrategraph,itcanbeconcludethattheinflationratewasgoingupinthoseyears,whichmeansthatthepurchasingpowerforworkerswasdecliningduring2006to2008aswellasinotheryears.Thebloomingeconomybeforethecrisisin2006to2008didnotbringtheworkersmanymeaningfulbenefits.Inthatcondition,nearlynotincreasingincomewiththeinflation,thepurchasingpowerofUnitedStates’workersisfacinganotoptimisticsituation.

ChartIIIChartIV

TableI

FromTableI,wecanseethatbeforetheeconomycrisishappenedin2008,theTotallaborhoursweeklyforAmericanswasincreasingdirectly.Wecanseethatfromthenumberofworkersforallrangesoflaborhourwereincreasingwhilethenumberofpersonswhowork35to39hoursand40+hourseveryweekincreasedthemost.However,sincetheeconomyhadtrouble,manycorporationsbankrupted,manyworkerslosttheirjobs,andmanyoftheluckypersonswhokepttheirjobs,theirincomewasgoingdownastheiremployersneedtocontrolthecost.Iftheirwageswerecalculatedbyworkinghours,theymightnotneedtoworkaslongastheydidbefore,orsomeofthemneededtoworkformoretimethanbeforeastheirhourwagesweregoingdown.Afterthecrisis,mightduetotheeconomyrecoveryneededtime,theworkinghourshadbeendeclining2008to2010,thanitwentupuntilnow.Combingwiththeaverageworkingwagessituation,itcannotbedifficulttoinferthattherealaveragewagesforperworkinghourforworkersisdecreasingandworkersneedtoworkformoretimetosupporttheirlivesiftheywanttheirlivequalitiesdonotgoworse.

Likemanycountriesintheworld,theUnitedStatesalsoisfacingtheproblemofdeindustrialization.Duetoenvironmentprotectioncostandlaborcostaregoingupandbecomingmoreheavilytobeaffordedformanycompanies,manymanufacturingcompaniesdecidetomovetheirfactoriesoutoffUnitedStates.So,inthatway,wecanfindthattheservicesindustrytakesmoreandmorepartofAmericanemployment.Butnotlikemining,constructionandmanufacturingjobs,tradeandservicesjobsworkersgetlowerpaywhiletheyalsoneedtoworkmorehours.

TableII

TableIII

Besides,fromTableI,wecanseethatservices-providingsectormadeupalmost76.8%in2004and80.1%in2014oftotaljobsand83.5%ofnonagriculturaljobsin2004and86.2%in2014.Ontheopposite,thegoods-producing,excludingagriculturesectoronlytookup15.1%in2004and12.7%in2014oftotaljobs.Fortheincome,wecanseethattheaverageincomeofmining,constructionandmanufacturingisobvioushigherthantheservices-providing,especiallyforretailtradeworkers.Thisphenomenonisdeindustrialization,anddeindustrializationcanberecognizedassortofdisorganizationandsocialdysfunctionwhilethefunctionalism’sapproachtosocialproblemsinvolvesthreebasicideas—socialdysfunction,unintendedorhiddenfunctionsanddisorganization（Dolgou,Baker,2011）.

ChartVGraphI

ChartVIChartVII

ThedecreasingmembershipsofUnionisafactforworkinequalityaswell.FromGraphVwecanseeUnionbegantodecreasethenumberofmemberssince1954.Nowthereareonlyapproximately1/3of1954’srateofworkersinUnion.Also,nomatterfromwhichside—genderorrace,workerswithunionalwaysgethigherpaidthanwithoutunion.Thus,wecanknow,unionisasignificanttoolforworkerstoprotecttheirinterestandeventhestageandleveragetonegotiatewiththeiremployers.What’smore,sincetherearemanyworkersindifferentunions,theunionalsohaveitspoliticalleveragetoreflectthedemandsofworkers.So,asthemembersinunionisdecreasing,thefunctionsofunionisweakening.Theweakerunioncannothaveenoughstrengthtoprotectworkers’benefitsasitusedtobe.Thus,itwillleadworkinequalityproblem.

（4）Consequencesandsolutionsofworkinequalityproblem:

Likemanysocialproblems,workinequalityalsoaffectthevulnerablegroupsinthesociety.Iftheworkinequalitycannotbedecreased,controlled,andevenexplores,thebenefitsofvulnerablegroupswillbeharmed.Althoughthevulnerablegroupsarethosepeoplewhoisintheweakpositioninthesociety,ifwedonotcareaboutthemandlettheirlivebecomeharder,manysocialproblemswillbecaused.Workersarethemajorpartofconsumption,andiftheirpaymentandpurchasingpoweraregoingdown,theywillpayless,andthenthedecreasingdemandsofmarketleadtofewerquantitiesformarketproductionsandsupplies.Thefewerneedstoproduce,thefewerjobsandlowerpaymentwillbegiventotheworkers,sothatmoreworkerswilllosetheirjobsandhavelessincome,whichalsowillaffectthemarketdemands.Thesocietyeconomywillenterintoaviciouscircle.What’sworse,theincreasingamountoflowincomeandunemployment,thesocialsecuritywillbeaffectedaswell.Manycrimesarenotowingtopersonswhocommitwantto,butforotherreasonslikelivingandthefeelingofinequality.Andifcriminalswiththosesituations,simplypunishthemorevenheaviersentencescannothelpmuch.Sometimes,itwillstimulatetherebelliousattitudesinthesociety,whichwillcausemanyforeseeableandpotentialcosts.

IthinkwecanreferthecaseforHarvardstudentstosupportcampussecurityguards.Thefourbasicdemandstheygave—fairwages;regular,full-timehours;unionstatusandrecognition;andagrievanceprocedure—areveryusingandreferenceable（Dolgou,Baker,2011）.Thelawregulartheminimumsalaryandmaximumlaborhours.Andre-strengththeawarenessofunionamongworkerswillgivethemachancetouniteintoagroupandhavetheadvantagestonegotiatefortheirbenefits.Alsoareasonablegrievanceprocedureisacompensationiftheworkersbelievetheycannotfindequalityinmanyways,theystillhaveachancetostateandaskfortheirbenefits.Theprocedurewillnotbeatoolforworkerstoachievealloftheirdemand,butbothprotecttheemployees’andemployers’benefitsinareasonableandlegalway.

ReferencePage

Dolgon,Baker.2011.“SocialProblems:

AServiceLearningApproach”.P42,P105~106.ThousandOaks,CA:

PineForgePress.

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//www.economicpopulist.org/content/wages-america-and-attack-labor

DrewDesilver.2014,October9.“Formostworkers,realwageshavebarelybudgedfordecades”.RetrievedJune1,2016,fromhttp:

//www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/09/for-most-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/

DaveCoker.2012,September27.“Gettingpoorboss!

”RetrievedJune1,2016,fromhttp:

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