SS428 Labour Studies Essay Paper
Essay Topics:
- This is by no means an exhaustive list of topics for the Labour Studies paper.
Employment and Poverty in Canada
As it turns out Postal Code might be the single most important determining factor in a child’s life chances in Canada today. A child born to parents living in the bottom quintile faces significant obstacles with respect to his or her educational attainment. In fact children born into the bottom quintile do less well in school than do any of the children born in the quintiles above them. In Canada today single parenthood means single motherhood. Single mothers are many times more likely to live below the poverty line than are two parent families
The Union Movement
This would be a good opportunity to explore the history of the union movement in Canada. What is the state of the union movement in Canada today? Are unionized workers happier and more productive than non-unionized workers? Do they earn more and enjoy employer sponsored benefit packages? Why are Canadians less than certain about the benefits of unionized workplaces?
Multinational corporations, globalization and the Canadian Labour Market
Does globalization have a history? Of course it does. What does it mean? Where do multinationals invest? Who benefits and who does not? What consequences for manufacturing jobs in Canada. If fewer Canadians are employed in manufacturing and if service sector jobs pay on average 20 percent less than manufacturing jobs what consequences for government revenue? What consequences for government programs and which segment of the Canadian population will be more adversely affected?
Women’s Labour Market Experience
Gender discrimination is older than capitalism.
Traditional gender scripts, which are almost universal, were written by whom, and how long ago? Krahn, Lowe and Hughes authors of Work, Industry and Canadian Society quote Arlie Hochschild who wrote “Work has changed. Women have changed. But most workplaces have remained inflexible in the face of the family demands of their workers and at home, most men have yet to really adapt to the changes in women. This strain between the change in women and the absence of change in much else leads me to speak of a stalled revolution.”
Globalization and sweatshops
What does globalization mean? What is a sweatshop? Does what is being manufactured in sweatshops make its way into the Canadian marketplace? Why do Canadian consumers purchase goods manufactured in sweatshops? If young girls are working in the garment industry in Bangladesh why aren’t they in school? What would happen to them if they were to lose their job?