Nature of Work
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 6.3.1
The Labour Process and the Changing Nature of Work
Work includes paid work, unpaid work and the so-called ‘black economy'. The nature of work has changed significantly since industrialisation.
What is work?
- Pahl (1984) and Pahl & Gershuny (1980) identified four distinct forms of work:
- Paid employment in the formal or approved economy, where an individual's earnings are subject to income tax and National Insurance.
- The black economy is where people get paid ‘cash-in-hand’ and therefore don’t pay income tax or National Insurance; this is known as the informal or unofficial economy.
Forms of work
- Unpaid work within the home, such as unpaid labour in the home including cooking, cleaning and childcare.
- Unpaid work outside the home, such as voluntary work, charity work, or helping friends and neighbours.
The changing nature of work
- Marx argued that prior to industrialisation, workers have considerable control over the labour process, such as the skills they used to produce goods and services, and the conditions in which they carried out their work.
Industrial societies
- In capitalist industrial societies, the working class do not own the means of production, so lack control over the things they produce and the processes necessary for their production.
- With the advent of capitalist industrialisation, work became factory based and used technology; work was also divided into a large number of specialised fragmented tasks.
Control
- Employers now controlled workers’ place of work and the times they should be working, as well as how the work was to be done; profits now went to the employers in exchange for a daily wage.
Test yourself on Nature of Work
Voluntary work, charity work, or helping friends and neighbours are all examples of what kind of work?