Difference Between Social Work And Social Division Of Labour

This assignment is about comparing and contrasting two different theories in social science understandings of work. The two theories are social division of labour and gendered division of labour and are centrally concerned on how work is defined, allocated and shared.

One of the single most important features of industrial productivity and technical progress is the concept of division of labour. Division of labour is the breaking down of a work process into a number of tasks, with each task performed by a separate person or group of persons. It is most often applied to systems of mass production and is one of the basic organising principles of the assembly line. Breaking down work into simple, monotonous tasks removes any pointless motion and limits the handling of different tools and parts. The term `Labour` refers to any kind of physical or mental work which involves the provision of a product or service and does not just apply to paid work, it can also be in the home. This unpaid work is done by family members to maintain a household and unpaid domestic work has usually been done by women, e.g., wives and mothers. Their work may include cooking, cleaning, raising children, or managing household expenses. Social division of labour in a capitalistic society allocates certain sorts of tasks to certain sorts of people, in ways that are not equal, i.e. according to skills or labour power, i.e. who does the physical work versus factory owners, industrialists who own the product and make a profit. This refers to the separation of activities between individuals within society and is often linked to the existence of classes and gender. This continues to happen despite equality legislation; paid work has increased over time and is oft...

... middle of paper ...

...h someone who is loaded and willing to support you, then not working and not claiming anything is no big deal. Another reason could be that successive governments have restricted eligibility for unemployment benefits to the point where nearly half of those out of work get nothing. Makes you wonder why national insurance is so high when the benefits you get in return are so poor. Some people take early retirement and live off savings until they get their pension, so I guess that will account for some of the number. They got big redundancy payments or were sensible and saved for rainy days, significant savings mean you cannot claim benefits, have additional income from property etc. or just enjoying the career break without having to be actively seeking employment. Some people might have too much pride to claim benefits or are probably on sickness/invalidity benefits.