Americans Motivation to Work Essay -- Labor Supply Economics

American's Motivation to Work The majority of Americans get up each morning and go to work in order to earn money. But what are the true motivators for working and where do they come from? How do wage rates and other forms of compensation affect the quantity of labor supplied to the market? This essay will discuss how labor effects the economy. Each person working plays a role in society and production output. These are areas that need to be addressed when the supply of labor is being discussed. The motivation to work arises from a variety of social, psychological and economic forces. People need income to pay their bills, feel that they have a role in society and also feel a sense of acheivement. Although there is always a choice, that is not working and not getting paid. People choose between labor and leisure according to the percieved rewards of each. The marginal utility of labor reflects the satisifaction to be gained from added income, as well as any direct pleasure a job may provide. A worker compares these satisfactions with those of leisure and chooses the one that yeilds the greatest utility for available time and wage rates. As it may seem obvisous to some, the more a worker gets paid, the more encouragement that worker has to work more hours and produce more output. Thus, higher wages may increase the marginal utility of an hour's labor, this being a substitiute for labor. But it can also have the opposite effect. This being that if a wor...

Alternative Teaching Strategies

From Infancy until the late stages of our lives, we undergo different stages of development. In each of the stages, we are supposed to be mastering some craft, or prioritizing a task that we have not given the time of day before. Several psychologists have come up with theories about these stages, each intertwined with the other. This paper will concentrate on Jean Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development, specifically, to Concrete Operational Stage, in relation to the experience of tutoring Math to the children in St.Kitts. According Perret-Clermont and Bessire, (2004) from encyclopedia. com, â€Å"Piaget compared ideas and facts, the philosophy of science and the observation of children, working out the fundamental principles of genetic epistemology. † Concrete Operational Stage happens from the ages 7 to 11 years. According to Piaget, at this stage, reversibility, that is objects when changed has the ability to return to its original state, is attained. According to Marshall (1998) in encyclopedia.com, â€Å"In the stage of so-called concrete-operations (which lasts from about the ages of 7 to 11 or 12), children start to classify objects, can take the role of others and understand the nature of cause and effect, but still have difficulty thinking about abstract concepts without referring these to real events or particular images with which they are familiar. † Edwards, Hopgood, Rosenberg and Rush (2009) further wrote in their website, â€Å"During this stage, the thought process becomes more rational, mature and ‘adult like', or more ‘operational', although this process most often continues well into the teenage years.The process is divided by Piaget into two stages, the Concrete Operations, and the Formal Operations stage, which is normally undergone by adolescents. In the Concrete Operational stage, the child has the ability to develop logical thought about an object, if they are able to manipulate it. By comparison, howe ver, in the Formal Operations stage, the thoughts are able to be manipulated and the presence of the object is not necessary for the thought to take place. †Other characteristic for this stage was mentioned by Atherton (2009) in the Learning Teaching website: â€Å"Can think logically about objects and events; Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9); Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size. † An Anonymous writer from Child Development institute (2008) said the following for this stage of development, â€Å"Evidence for organized, logical thought. There is the ability to perform multiple classification tasks, order objects in a logical sequence, and comprehend the principle of conservation.Thinking becomes less transductive and less egocentric. The child is capable of concrete problem-solving. Some reversibility now possible (quantities moved can be restored suc h as in arithmetic: 3+4 = 7 and 7-4 = 3, etc. ) Class logic-finding bases to sort unlike objects into logical groups where previously it was on superficial perceived attribute such as color. Categorical labels such as â€Å"number† or animal† now available. † It is from these that the project was initiated. For two months, the author of this paper has spent time with the school kids of St. Kitts.Everyday, tutorial lessons were held to aid children in accomplishing their tasks at school. A set of survey questions was also distributed to find out their views to help in setting up the project. The survey consisted of 10 questions specifically phrased and distributed to both the children and their parents. Of the ten questions answered by the children, the top four questions that were noticeable were questions number 2, 4, 5 and 9. Question number two asked them if their parents spend quality time with them and their schoolwork. Nearly 70% of the population said †Å"no.† Majority of the children answered 4-5 hours with question number four that asked about the amount of time they spend playing after school. When asked if they spend time studying at home, besides at school, for question number 5, only 43% said â€Å"yes. † It is however, noteworthy that 100% of the children answered â€Å"yes† in question number nine, â€Å"if I were to tutor you for the next two months, do you think you will be better? † As for the result on the survey to the parents, the top four questions that had numerical impact were questions number 1, 2, 3 and 5.For question number one, only 50% of the parents say that they are involved in their children’s homework. The involvement of the 50% though varies from subject to subject as they have limited knowledge to some areas. Close to 74% of the parents answered â€Å"yes† to question number two, â€Å"Do you ask to see their homework? † Comparing the results for both quest ions number one and two, the disparity between involvement (helping children out) and simply looking at the homework, is already evident. Looking at the homework does not necessarily mean seeing through the process of its completion.One of the more interesting results is the answer to question number three, as it deals with time frames parents set to their children in accomplishing their homework. Only 20% of the population does it. The last question that had impact is for the one that asked whether or not parents cut out distractions (like TV or computer) in the background? Only 12% were confident in saying â€Å"yes,† whereas a majority rated it as â€Å"not sure. † This result roots from the fact that they don’t entirely remove these distractions, because most of the parents still do their own chores and tasks while their children are doing their homework.The experience has brought the conclusion that lack of attention and attentiveness to and from the kids a re the biggest contributors for the knowledge deficit in the community. The objective of the project is to come up with an alternative that will help children concentrate on doing assignments to gain desire for learning anew, to help and equip parents with the styles of teaching, so that after this project, they can do it themselves. The project and teaching plan, however, are limited to tutoring Math, and not other subjects.Nursing Diagnosis: Knowledge deficit related to lack of application of age-appropriate (developmental stage) learning methodology. While the children answered in such manner to the survey questions, an apparent lack of appropriate application of the developmental ability and capability is a contributor to making the children interested in the subject area and making the parents involved in the assignments. Parents have little knowledge on how to approach teaching children, and they are not wary about the fact that children at different stages comprehend lessons in different manners or levels.

The Slavery Of The United States - 1449 Words

â€Å"Slavery is founded on the selfishness of man’s nature; opposition to it on his love for justice.† This saying by Abraham Lincoln tells us that people are really different when it comes to their beliefs and attitudes. Some are so focused on wealth, which is why they have slaves to work for free, and treated them as properties instead of real human beings. On the other hand, some people were against slavery because it violated the basic human rights like the right to life, liberty, and security. Slavery in the United States was present for 245 years, slaves helped form the economic foundations of the new nation or as what we call it now as The United States of America. Nevertheless, slavery will never be right, that is why there were†¦show more content†¦Second argument of the south was, â€Å"If all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. This would lead to uprisings, bloodshed, and anarchy.† This is why the southern ers said that it was too difficult to abolish slavery because of the possible effects and outcomes that it would lead to; these possibilities of uprising may be possible and inevitable. Also, this may be the reason why other cultures prefer to accept slavery instead of abolishing it. Such chaos would only be expected in a nation that is founded and maintained by liberty and equality for everyone as its main values. While the master lived in fear of his slave, the slave lived in fear of his master. Third argument of the south was, â€Å"Slavery was accepted in the bible and its institution was divine, it was tolerated and approve by God in the days of Abraham.† The south defended the morality of slavery through scriptural defenses, which they relied on as the universal standard for moral issues. Moreover, argued that God and his apostles concluded that owing slaves is not explicitly stated as a sin since some of them owned slaves themselves. This argument is like one of the mo st pointless arguments that they had since slavery was obviously anti-Christian. It is for a fact that Jesus represents Christianity, and all of its beliefs and practices are for the common good. It is impossible for Jesus to allow these situations toShow MoreRelatedSlavery And The United States891 Words   |  4 PagesThe Unites States during the 1850s was a harsh time for African Americans, not only were they treated extremely harsh; but many of them were slaves as well. Slavery was the topic of every discussion during this time period and the United States was literally split on the issue of slavery. A lot of the Southern States wanted to continue slavery because it was a way of life. Many of the southerners depend on slavery to help grow and harvest crops that were on acres and acres of land. Northerns, onRead MoreSlavery And The United States848 Words   |  4 Pagesthe United States. During these years, many different topics were up for dispute and compromises were being neg otiated. Unfortunately, it was hard for all of the citizens to come to a complete compromise for the disputes. Some states had similar opinions, while others were in a deadlock. One of the biggest disputes during this time were over slavery. While other disputes only involved a few states, slavery was a dispute that caused unrest between two distinctive regions in the United States: theRead MoreThe Slavery Of The United States953 Words   |  4 PagesEvery country has a dark past, whether it’s about conquering land from Native Americans, or mass genocide of a single race. The United States was no different from the rest of the world, especially when slavery was involved. The South had its reasons on why to establish and justify the slavery system while the North rejected their beliefs. By focusing on the South’s argument, this will help to understand why they fought for their rights to keep slaves and understand how the African Americans wereRead MoreThe Slavery Of Th e United States1095 Words   |  5 Pagesattempted to cure their complete opposition on the regulation of slavery by using federal power to coerce an end to the feud, yet the movement increased tension between the divided nation. By invoking both legislative and judicial power, politicians used laws which included slave codes and freedom laws as well as court decisions like Dred Scott v Sandford (1875) to convince or force the population into acceptance of stances on slavery. Each party viewed their tactics and ideas to be righteous, andRead MoreSlavery And The United States1305 Words   |  6 PagesSlavery; An Issue Neglected to a Key Principle in the U.S. For 20 years slavery had existed in the United States of America despite its immorality and the objections of many citizens. Strides were made to correct this injustice around the time of the Revolutionary war; colonists started to demand their natural human rights from Britain. In 1766, our founding fathers were the first faced with a decision to abolish slavery; they felt the pressure from facing the purpose of their campaign due to theRead MoreSlavery And The United States1507 Words   |  7 PagesOver the centuries, slavery held a prominent factor in United States history. Slavery shaped and formed what society was in the United States. Slavery’s influence impacted the United States in various ways. The ways that slavery impacted United States history are the United States economy, society and politics. Some historians argue slavery is not an important factor in United States history. However, they are wrong because slavery brought many different political movements and t he Underground RailroadRead MoreThe Slavery Of The United States976 Words   |  4 PagesSlavery has played a very integral part in the development of the United States so far. It has taught people the importance of racial equality and moral discipline, which was lacked back in the time when slavery existed. Moreover, slaves were used mostly by farmers and business owners who wanted to maximize their profits and wanted cheap sources of labor. Slaves were first imported into the United States back in 1502 by a merchant named; Juan de Cà ³rdoba. The South was very interested in bringingRead MoreSlavery And The United States1673 Words   |  7 Pageshowever, when slavery existed, blacks were undermined and denied many freedoms entitled to them under the Constitution. There were many topics argued about, but slavery caused the most dispute within the country. In the 1850’s, the pro-slavery South and the anti-slavery North collided when the case of Dred Scott, a black slave who attempted to gain liberation, was brought to court. The North and South had vastly different views on the subject of slavery, Scott had resided in the free state of IllinoisRead MoreThe Slavery Of The United States1670 Words   |  7 Pageswedge between the nation. As the United States progressed into different industries, slavery benefited only one side of the country – the south. The north began outlawing slavery, deeming it as immoral and unconstitutional while the south needed and depended on slavery to maintain their economy. The opposing sides on the slave system lead to arguments between the North and the South as to decide what new territories would allow slavery, then leading on to outlawing slavery all together. Tensions increasedRead MoreSlavery Of The United States1528 Words   |  7 PagesSlavery in the United States The use of African American slaves began in the Mid-17th century. According to the U.S. Census of 1790, the United States had a population of 3.8 million people; from which 700,000 of them were slaves, that is 18 percent of the entire population. The state of Virginia had the largest population of slaves. Virginia alone had 300,000 slaves. In South Carolina, 43 percent of the entire population was slaves ( Zambelli). It all makes sense because in the year of 1790, the