The Inequality Of Low Wage Workers - 1132 Words

Low-wage workers in America are not being afforded the basic labor protections that skilled workers enjoy. This neglect of low-wage workers is a personal trouble as much as it is a public issue. According to C. Wright Mills, troubles are personal problems that take place within the individual and their relations to others (1959). Issues, on the other hand, expand far beyond the individual’s personal characteristics and onto institutions in a particular historical time period (Mills 1959). Mills indicates that personal troubles can be easily detected by pointing at an individual’s characteristics, public issues on the other hand cannot be easily identified in that manner (1959). To develop a personal and social understanding if individual troubles and societal issues, Mills uses the sociological imagination (1959). Wage-labor, under the sociological imagination, can be identified as a socially constructed issue and not just an individual’s inability to be employed in something better. By looking at wage-labor in a narrow sense, it becomes easy to blame the individual for their troubles. Policies are then established to punish individuals and not the structural causes of their troubles. One way in which low-wage workers are punished for being in the situation that they are in is through neglecting them as a whole. The lack of safety mechanisms available for low-wage workers in the event of unemployment or underemployment, forces individuals to construct alternative modes ofShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Income Inequality1038 Words   |  5 PagesEquality is one of the biggest concerns in most societies. Independent of philosophy, culture, or religion, the society always care about this growing issue. Inequalities are shown in diverse ways by people’s position in the distribution of wealth or income but could also be related to other characteristics like having a disability, different ethnicity or background or gender. 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