Econbitc Essay Research Paper Women and the

Econbitc Essay, Research Paper

Women and the Global Assembly Line – discrimination women men business jobQuestion #1: Women and the Global Assembly LineA) Discuss the multi-faceted reasons (political, social, etc.) why womenin developing countries might be willing to work for lower wages andunder more onerous conditions. In today s global marketplace, women are becoming more recognizedas a labor force. In the past, it has always been men who were thebreadwinners. Today, due to various social, political, and economicreasons, women are becoming the primary breadwinners in less developedcountries. This sounds like an encouraging statistic to woman s rightsgroups around the world. However, these women are being exploited,rather than appreciated. They are being exploited by multi-nationalcorporations, which relocate their manufacturing sectors to LDC s. Inthe LDC s, MNC s are able to find lower labor costs and therefore, lowerproduction costs. Because it is assumed that women are economically dependent on men,their attempts to gain access to jobs are frequently seen as means tosupplement the income of a male head of household. Therefore, thedifferentials in the wages earned by men and women are often a reflectionof the belief that men should earn more because they have families tosupport, while the latter merely add to the gains of husbands andfathers. (Fernandez-Kelly, p. 88) Managers justify paying women workers less by imagining that women aremerely secondary wage earners in their families. They assume that men –as fathers and husbands — are the breadwinners.’ This presumptionprevails not just in popular thinking, but in the statistical reports ofbodies such as the national census bureau, the World Bank, anddevelopment agencies. (Enloe, p. 162-3) There are many other factors that contribute to the exploitationof women. The situation of women in labor markets bears greatresemblance to that of migrants. Fernandez-Kelly believes in both casesindividuals enter the labor force without a legitimizing ideology thatpromotes their equitable treatment (p. 88). Migrant workers arerestricted in that they are working illegally, therefore they mustcompromise with lower wages. Women are restricted in the above breadwinner philosophy, therefore, they must compromise with lowerwages also. When they acquire jobs, the members of both groups are oftenseen with suspicion and hostility, as it is presumed that they competeunfairly against the members of a predominantly male working class. Single women are often exploited the most. Managers often seeyoung single women in light of the marriage factor,” which they use tosuppress wages. …the single woman is not a serious member of the labor force becauseshe intends to work only until she finds a husband and settles down,’supported by him. Therefore, she does not need to be paid as if she werea career worker. (Enloe, p. 164)This belief by managers is prevalent in almost all LDC s where MNC soperate. It is their justification of their exploitation. Women are willing to work for these low wages because they haveno other choice. The world is changing rapidly, and many countries aregoing through the industrial revolution that the US went through in thelate 1800 s. However, technology is much more sophisticated, due to theintervention of foreign companies. The men in these LDC s are oftenunable to obtain labor positions because they are unskilled. The menthat are employed are often educated, and they work in thesupervisory-management sector. The unskilled, assembly-line work is leftto the women of the country. The older women are unable to fulfill thejob requirements because of their lack of stamina, and they often remainat home to raise the family s children. In most LDC s, two to threegenerations live together — simply as a means for survival. This leavesno one else to be the breadwinner, but the young daughter or wife. Noone else is qualified, because the corporations are able to pay women thelowest wages. Since they are able to justify paying young, single womenthe lowest wages, they are the only ones they hire. And therefore, sincethe young women are the only ones qualified to be the breadwinners,they must accept their wage and onerous conditions to survive. B) Discuss the effects of this employment pattern on men and women indeveloping countries. Women are rapidly displacing men in unskilled labor. It is notsimply because they are better, not because they are more efficient –but because they are willing to work for lower wages. They have nochoice but to work for low wages, as I have described above. Sincecorporations are hiring mostly women for manufacturing positions, this isdisplacing much of the male working-population. Education and skilledlabor are not revered in LDC s as it is in the US. Citizens of LDC s donot have the opportunity for education to acquire a skill. Many childrenmust begin working when they are still young, simply to provide for theirfamily. Children and young women are being forced by political,economic, and social factors to work for their families. Politically, the governments of LDC s are encouraging foreigninvestment because they need the industry, the income, the jobs. Multi-national corporations are taking advantage of the LDC s low-costlabor and moving their manufacturing sectors to the LDC s. The primaryaspect which LDC s possess is low-cost labor. Many MNC s (in thetextile, electronics, and apparel industries) are labor-intensivein