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Minimum Wage Case Study

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The calculation process of the minimum wage also reflected patriarchal gender ideology. Examining the basic living costs of workers, the FIC categorized working class into three groups: (1) Unmarried women living independently, (2) Single men living independently, (3) Normal family. However, calculating the living cost for unmarried independent women, the FIC considered only the costs of maintaining their personal lives. In spite of the apparent finding on the investigation that a large number of women were financially supporting their family budgets, this condition was not reflected in the process of the calculation. Although ‘savings’ was included in the list of living costs, the item was primarily considered as the resource for “the girl who is destined to marry” that had to “wait for the right man to come.” As a result, the FIC failed to recognize the economic subjectivity of female workers during minimum wage calculation, by ignoring their financial contribution to the households and only emphasizing the protection of the physical and mental health of individual women. …show more content…
The wage of unmarried men was 505 dollars a week, not much different from that of unmarried women except for amusement and boarding expenses. However, the FIC stated that this research was made just for the standpoints of interest, and setting different minimum wages for married and single men would be unwise because it would place the premium of employment upon single men, who would be given lower wages. In other words, the FIC premised that unmarried men would become the breadwinners of the future and take full charge of the family’s economy, so that tried to combine both under the single wage system that is distinct from that of female

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