Ch. 5 Journal

'Unemployment and Making a Living'

Summary: 1) Work is characterized by its relationship between paid and unpaid work.

2) Unemployment statistics do not give an accurate picture of those in work and those who need increased income to make a living.

3) Statistics do not accurately portray unpaid labor force, a large amount which is women.

4) In the global South, there are higher amounts of subsistence agriculture and petty commodity production.

5) A major issue with work is that despite working extremely hard, many workers yield low production levels, thus receiving low pay and remaining in poverty.

6) We need to understand the relation between products and labor (what is produced, how, for whom?)

Definitions:

unemployment- being without work but currently available for employment

employment- paid employment for others or self-employment performing work for profit or family gain

economic activity- all persons who furnish the supply of labor for the production of economic goods and services

work- the expenditure of energy for a purpose, includes paid and unpaid labor

The informal sector means casual and informal wage work. Often they are illegal because they are not officially registered businesses. Or, those unable to find a job will seek work in this sector. They tend to be labor intensive with low capital investments and unregulated.

The social division of labor means there are different kinds of good and services that are complementary and relate to each other. Also technical division of labor, and sexual division.

"To be registered unemployed, one first needs to be counted. If there are no labor offices in the rural areas or in the shanty urban areas there may well be a zero or low count in those locations. Also, to be counted as unemployed, one usually has to be without employment, currently available for it, and 'seeking' it." There are good reasons why many people may not bother to 'seek' employment" (p. 102).

My thoughts: The above quote show the complexity of the work force by the strict definition of unemployment. In many developing countries a social system does not exist, nor benefits or job security, so many people would not bother to register to be counted as unemployed. That is why 'seek' is in quotes because there are many barriers preventing workers from seeking jobs. Many people make their living and survive on work that is not officially counted as 'employment' such as women's unpaid labor in the home. Therefore many times the unemployment factor is overestimated, because the population is still active in providing for their needs. For example on page 105, the proportion of Andean women in agricultural work was 21% instead of the reported %3. The book states that this is a common underestimation because these numbers affect women from the poorer strata and are closely tied to their background and socio-economic status.

Why women's work is underestimated: pp. 106-7

• it is difficult to differentiate between domestic work and unpaid work
• censuses classify workers according to occupation
• some activities are performed by women at home though they are clearly tied to market

Notes: What causes unemployment? It is not a single process therefore involves many things: closing down of organizations, relocation, outsourcing, intensifying labor with fewer workers, increased flexibility of work negotiations (i.e. casualization), technical change, demographics (i.e. rural areas), land alienation through privatization.

"One early development policy is that there is a high level of 'disguised' unemployment (or underemployment) in the rural areas in the global South that could be used for new development projects" (p. 120).

My thoughts: It is important to note the difference between unemployment (when capable people seeking a job cannot find it) and underemployment, people in work that limits their skills and capacities. The above quotes cautions against using unemployment as a reason to start projects without first investigating the root of the problem, the culture, the history of their market and exchanges. Policies can be dangerous and cause more harm than good when they impose solutions to unemployment, when it is really just 'underemployment' or an issue that is portrayed worse than it actually is.