GEOGRAPHY

In the developing world, some things have not changed, such as the importance of the informal sector and the use of child labour.  On the positive side, there are opportunities for workers to acquire the skills needed in commercial agriculture, manufacturing and the service sector.

 

In the developed world, workers have had to re-skill, as jobs in agriculture, mining and manufacturing have given way to jobs in the tertiary and quaternary sectors.  The labour has become more flexible – more part-time working, more self-employment, more tele-working.

 

Impacts on different groups of people

 

• Has meant thousands of women in Kenya have access to land which previously they did not under Kenyan law

• Women in the UK have increased job opportunities in flexible, part time employment and access to a full education by law.

• There are more jobs available in developing countries, especially in manufacturing and increasingly in tertiary too

• Women in the developing world have increased access to education

• Women and men in the developing world have access to urban secondary and tertiary jobs

• Men in the East end of London have reduced access to secondary jobs in car manufacturing that their fathers did

• Many men in developing nations feel work is better paid and more consistent in factories compared to farming which can be affected by the weather

• In the UK, fewer full time jobs in secondary industries, and more part time tertiary jobs than 50 years ago

• Many men in developing countries have to leave their rural homes and children with elderly relatives in countries like China, to work in factories in urban centres

• Many women in countries like Bangladesh work in ‘sweatshops’ for TNCs, stitching clothes for minimal pay, in tough conditions with limited or no breaks

• Women in developed countries have increased access to flexible work compared to 50 years ago when more jobs were labour intensive- so now women are more equal