Earning Money: Working Life

Earning Money: Working Life

Living standards in Britain have risen since 1960. The statement above is not literally true, so it contains a certain lack of enthusiasm for work in general. At the end of the social scale, this attitude to work exists because leisure has always been the main outward sign of aristocracy. Britain’s class system has had its effects throughout society. Traditionally, a major sign of being middle class (opposed to working class) has been that you do non-manual work. That skilled manual (or blue collar) workers have been paid more highly than the lower grades of white collar. Now was changed this social perception. The effect of anti-work outlook among the working class has been a relative lack of ambition or enthusiasm, in which pay is more important than job satisfaction.

These attitudes are slowly changing. Half of the workforce now does non-manual work, and yet a majority describe themselves as working class. The connection between being middle class and doing non-manual work is growing weaker.

In Britain, working day starts rather late compared to European countries. Manual workers start working at about 8am, and non-manual workers at about 9. If measured in the number of hours, British reputation for not working hard appears to be false. Launch time is an hour or less and most people work until 5 o'clock or later and even work several hours overtime.

The normal retiring age in Britain is 65, and it is to be raised in 2024.

Annual holidays in Britain are comparatively short.

There are three main ways in which people look for work in Britain: through newspapers (national ones for posts demanding the highest qualifications; otherwise local ones), through the local job center (which is run as a government service) and through privately-run employment agencies (which take a commission from employers). Of course, all of these sources are now frequently accessed on the internet.

The level of unemployment has gradually risen and most new job opportunities are in the service sector (e.g. in communications, health care, and social care).

This has resulted a readjustment period with respect to work in both sexes. The decline of heavy industry has meant fewer jobs in stereotypical ‘men’s work’.

In 1970 in Britain around 65% of all those in the work were men.

Since early 1990 the numbers of men and women in the workforce have been more or less the same.

In that year, there were two and a half times as many unemployed men as there were unemployed women.

In 2004 there were still more unemployed men in Britain than employed women. One of the reasons for this, is that may be employers still seem pay women less.

Work Organizations

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is the organization which represents employers in private industry. Most employers belong to it. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is the main organization for groups of employees. This is a voluntary association of trade unions in some countries. There are more than a hundred of these, some big, some small, some not affiliated, which represents employees in all kind of work.

Most British unions are connected with particular occupations. Many belong to the Labor party, which their members pay a political levy. There is one union for each group of employees instead of separate one for each political party in that group.

Unions have local branches called chapels, reflecting a historical link to Nonconformism. A union is represented by a shop steward, who negotiates with the on-site management.

Union membership has declined since 1979. Until then, the leader of the TUC was one of the most powerful people in the country. At that time, the members of unions made up more than half of all employed people in the country.

Other work organization is the National Farmers Union (NFU). It doesn’t belong to the TUC, being made up of agricultural employers and independent farmers. Considering the small number of people involved in agriculture in Britain, it has a remarkably large influence because is the smallest proportion in the whole of the EU (European Union).

Public and Private Industry

The modernization of business and industry happened later in Britain than in other western European countries.

British industry performed poorly during the decades following the Second World War.

As in all European countries, the economic system in Britain is a mixture of private and public enterprise. From 1945 until 1980, the general trend was for the state to have more control. Some industries became nationalized, especially those concerned with the production and distribution of energy. In 1980, “pure” capitalism formed a smaller part of the economy than in any other country in Western Europe.

From 1980, the trend started going in the other direction. A major part of the philosophy of the Conservative government was to let ‘market forces’ rule and to turn state-owned companies into companies owned by individual members of the public. This approach was a major part of the thinking of Thatcherism. Between 1980 and 1994, a large number of companies were privatized; they were sold off by the government.

In addition, the British economy has performed well in the last two decades and it is possible that this great shift in structure has contributed to this turnaround. However, it has also had negative effects. First, the privatizations of services which western people now regard as essential has necessitated the creation of some public ‘watchdog’ organizations which regulatory powers over the sector which they monitor. Second, it has contributed to the widening gap between rich and poor. Letting ‘market forces’ rule means that there are more opportunities for people to make money, as both shareholders and employees.

Distribution of Wealth

In the 1970s, Britain had one of the most equitable distributions of wealth in Western Europe. In the 1990s, it had one of the least equitable. The rich had got richer, but the poor had not. A survey suggested that the gap between the richest part of the UK and the poorest part was as great as in the late 19th century. In 2007, a survey showed that the number of 'average' people was decreasing (Average meaning people who are neither rich nor poor), and that it was increasing the number of households that were enough for basic things, but not to enjoy the opportunities the rest of the society had.

As we know, class and wealth do not run parallel in Britain. People are not keen to flaunt their wealth, nor are ashamed to be poor. They are not proud of being poor, but they don't feel obliged to hide the fact that they are poor. Most people believe that the gap between the richest and the poorest is too wide, but just a few think that steps should be taken to narrow it. An example of this is that in the elections of 1997, Tony Blair refused to say he would try to narrow that gap, and yet won the election and became prime minister. Most people in Britain are comfortable economically and the poor are in a minority, so they have little hope of changing their condition.

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