Value Economics by M. R. Griffiths & J. R. Lucas

Author:M. R. Griffiths & J. R. Lucas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, London

As Keynes goes on to say, “We need to operate in a way which distributes what remains among as many people as possible. Three hour shifts for a total of fifteen hours a week could tackle the problem for a good period of time. Three work hours a day are more than sufficient to satisfy the old Adam which exists in all of us.” The idea of a three-hour working day flies in the face of traditional employment wisdom, of course, but the very “shocking” nature of such a proposal might help us to take a new look at employment outside the straitjacket of the eight-hour day.

In the USA since its inception in 1994 the Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) has been looking at the future of work through various programmes that have examined the causes and consequences of the long-term deterioration in the availability and quality of jobs in the lower tiers of the US labour market. The RSF conducted studies to assess the evidence that a number of factors had put downward pressure on the wages of poorly educated workers, including foreign outsourcing, immigration, the decline of unions, deregulation and technological change. Other research looked at the skills required in the modern economy, and at how the increasing computerization of the economy might change these skills in future. In 2003 the RSF published Low-Wage America: How Employers are Reshaping Opportunity in the Workplace. Case studies revealed that in responding to economic pressures firms had sought to hold the line by freezing wages, cutting benefits, and reorganizing production. Where unions were weak, minimum wages were low, there were large numbers of workers with limited education, and low-wage work was widespread; where unions were stronger it made it more difficult for firms to compete by reducing wages and job quality. Among the other ways identified for responding to negative economic conditions were investment in training and capital to increase productivity. Further studies included an analysis of five low-wage jobs in five European countries, as in the USA, covering call centre operators, food processing workers, nursing assistants, retail clerks and hotel housekeepers.

Further study of the future of work was collected together in the book Low-Wage Work in a Wealthy World, which showed that the incidence of low wages ranges widely between countries—from a low of 8 percent in Denmark to around 25 percent in the USA—and that these differences are influenced by the “inclusiveness” of each country’s industrial relations system, including collective bargaining agreements and minimum wage laws, and the level of social benefits, such as health insurance, pensions, family leave, and paid holidays. In terms of looking at the future of work, RSF has also looked at a growing segment of the low-wage sector, covering activities such as care of children, the elderly and the disabled, and also home-based health care. Care work is moving increasingly from the family to the market, entailing a mix between family, public provision and private, including voluntary assistance. Care in this sense represents another opportunity

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