Thảo luận văn hóa anh: The economy and everyday life

Thảo luận văn hóa anh: The economy and everyday life Thảo luận văn hóa anh: The economy and everyday life Thảo luận văn hóa anh: The economy and everyday life Thảo luận văn hóa anh: The economy and everyday life Thảo luận văn hóa anh: The economy and everyday life Thảo luận văn hóa anh: The economy and everyday life

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH FACULTY -o0o -

DISCUSSION

BRITISH CULTURE

Topic: The economy and everyday life

Teacher : Nguyễn Thị Xuân Phương

Class : 2076ENTI0411

HANOI – 2020

1

I Introduction: 3

II Body 3

1 Earning money: 3

2 Work organization: 6

3 The structure of trade and industry 9

3.1 Agriculture 9

3.2 Construction 9

3.3 Manufacturing 9

3.4 Services 9

4 The distribution of wealth 11

5 Finance and Investment 14

6 Spending money: shopping 18

III Conclusion 21

I Introduction:

The UK is one of the most globalized economies in the world In the 18thcentury the UK was the first country to industrialize and during the 19th century it had

a dominant role in the global economy, accounting for 9.1% of the world's GDP in

1870 The Second Industrial Revolution was taken place rapidly in the United Statesand the German Empire, this presented an increasing economic challenge for the UK

In the 21st century the UK retains the ability to project power and influence around theworld In 2019, the UK was the fifth-largest exporter in the world and the fifth-largestgoods importer It also had the second-largest inward foreign direct investment, andthe third-largest outward foreign direct investment The service sector dominates,contributing around 80% of GDP; the financial services industry is particularlyimportant, and London is the second-largest financial center in the world

The UK-Vietnam bilateral relationship has developed greatly since theestablishment of full diplomatic relations in 1973 The UK is one of the largest EUinvestors in Vietnam UK companies are building up a good reputation and arecontributing to Vietnam’s economic development

II Body

1 Earning money:

“The one thing the English will never forgive the Germans for is working toohard” was a statement which was written by Hungarian humourist This statement isnot literally true but it does reflect a certain lack of enthusiasm for work in the UK.Because leisure has always been the main outward sign of aristocary and Britain’sclass system has had its effects throughout society The classic formulation of socialclass in Britain is to see Britain as being divided into three classes: working, middleand upper class

Social class Features

Working class

Those individuals engaged in manual work, often having low levels

of educational achievement The classic, traditional working classjobs include heavy labouring and factory based work

Middle class

Those individuals engaged in non-manual work, often having higherlevels of educational achievement Classic middle class jobs includeeverything from doctors and lawyers to clerical workers

Upper class The elite class that controls the majority of wealth and power inBritish society

The fact that skilled manual (or blue-collar) workers have been paid more highlythan the lower grades of white-collar (non-manual) workers for several decades hasonly slightly changed this social perception This anti-work outlook among the

working class has led to a relative lack of ambition or enthusiasm and a belief that highearnings are more important than job satisfaction Working time for manual workersbegins at 8 o’clock and 9 o’clock for non-manual workers and they work fromMonday to Saturday Politicians work from Monday to Thursday and start businessfrom 2.30 pm to 10.30 pm On Friday, their work starts early morning and finishes inearly afternoon for the week They often start working later compares with mostEuropean countries.

These attitudes are slowly changing For example, at least half of the workforcenow does non-manual work, and yet a majority describe themselves working class.Therefore, it would seem that there is the weaker connection between being middleclass and doing non-manual work Nevertheless, the connection between classdistinctions and types of work lives on in some ways

Measured by the number of hours worked in a week, the British reputation fornot working hard enough appears to be false The normal lunch break is an hour or lessand most people (unless they work part-time) continue working until five or later.Many people often work several hours overtime a week In addition, a comparativelylarge proportion of British people stay in the workforce for a comparatively large part

of their lives More people between the ages of twenty-five and sixty, especiallywomen, stay in the job market than they do in most other European countries.Moreover, they spend lots of time to enjoy holidays: about 2 weeks for Christmas, 2weeks for Easter, 1 week for Whitsun and 6 weeks for summer holidays

There are three main ways in which people look for work in Britain: throughnewspapers, through the local job center and though privately-run employmentagencies The overall trend in employment over the last quarter of the twentiethcentury has been basically the same as elsewhere in Western Europe The level ofunemployment has gradually risen and most new job opportunities are in the servicesector (in communication, health care and social care)

The decline of heavy industry means fewer jobs in stereotypical men’s work,while the rise in service occupation means an increase in vacation for stereotypicalwomen’s work When the law against sex discrimination in employment was passed

in 1975, it was intended mainly to protect women In 1970 around 65% of all those inwork in Britain were men In 1993 men made up only 51% of the workforce Theaverage full-time male employee earned about 50% more than the average full-timefemale worker

Momentous legislation such as the Equality Act 2010 and consistent additions tothe Employment Act 1996, such as the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014, haveperhaps helped women to feel better represented in the workplace - empowering them

to juggle careers and families, seek promotions and enter professions previouslydominated by men The Equality Act was first introduced in 1970, and prohibited lessfavourable treatment between men and women, in terms of pay The Act was amended

in 2010 to consolidate several pieces of legislation, ensure equal pay for both gendersfor equal work and protect employees from discrimination Despite these positivemovements, the fact that three-quarters of firms were paying men more than women,and men were more often in more senior jobs and receiving higher bonuses The mostcommon sectors of employment for women in the UK are health and social work, thewholesale and retail trade and education Previously, women could retire at 60, whilstmen retired at 65 Then in 2007, legislation changed to increase the age and to create atimetable to ensure both men and women retired at the same age – 65

Compare with Vietnam:

Vietnamese people, on the whole, are very hard working and enthusiastic aboutwork, interested in their work and attentive to their duties People who are in some bigcities as Hanoi, Danang, Saigon seem busy in building, reparing, sewing serving andcarrying The working day starts rather early Many people rise at dawn, work from 10

to 12 hours, 7 days a week The pression “Your face to the earth, your back to the sun”describes the hard working Vietnamese farmer Local offices are usually open from7:30/8:00 am to 4:30/5:00 pm International organizations, international NGOs orforeign companies usually follow international working standards

Vietnam has many public holidays, big and small, but time is short: 5 to 7 daysfor Lunar New Year, 1 day for Victory Day (30/4), 1 day for International Labor Day(1/5), 1 day for National Day (2/9) and 1 day for Commemorative Celebration ofVietnam’s Forefather - Kings Hung (10/3 of the lunar year)

Vietnam promulgated the Law on Gender Equality in 2006, requiringGovernment agencies and People’s Committees at all levels to perform Statemanagement responsibilities in gender equality Since the law was issued and tookeffect, the system of policies and laws on gender equality has been continuouslysupplemented and completed, contributing to forming a solid legal corridor on genderequality After 10 years of implementing the law, several proud achievements in theissue were highly appreciated and recognised by the international community Forexample, the percentage of female deputies of the current National Assembly reached26.8 per cent, higher than the average rate of 19 per cent in Asian countries and 25 percent globally The gender structure of the labour force is relatively balanced, with 52.7per cent of the workforce male and 47.3 per cent female

A Labour Force Survey in Vietnam reveals that for a job requiring the samequalifications, the average pay for female workers is 10.7% lower than that of theirmale colleagues This gap is higher among high-skilled worker groups The

compensation of unskilled female workers is 8.1% lower than that of their malecolleagues, but the gap increases to 19.7% for workers having a bachelor’s or higherdegree.

Vietnamese women have fewer opportunities than men in the workplace Theyform a large majority of the working poor, earn less income, and are more oftenaffected by under- and un-employment and precarious working conditions than men.Women in Viet Nam are principally found in lower paid occupational sectors or invulnerable employment The majority of women work as unpaid family workers, and

in largely "invisible" areas of informal employment as migrant domestic workers,homeworkers, street vendors and in the entertainment industry Women's position inthe labour market is largely affected by socio-economic disadvantages caused bygender-based discrimination Vietnamese women often have less access to productiveresources, education, and skills development and labour market opportunities thanmen

_Many belong to the Labourparty to which their members pay

_The union is “a socio-politicalorganization of the working classand of the employees

_It’s established on a voluntarybasis, representing theemployees, taking care of andprotecting protection of the rightsand legitimate and legitimateinterests of employees

_The organization whichrepresents employers in privateindustry is called theConfederation of British Industry(CBI)

_Most employers belong to CBI

_The Vietnam Union ofCooperatives (VCA) is anotheremployer organization thatincludes 17,000 cooperativemembers and small businessesnationwide

The Unions

_ Members include companies aswell as trade associationmembers, from the perspective oftheir leadership Described by theFinancial Times as "Britain'sbiggest business lobby group"

_ Its mission is to promote theconditions in which businesses ofall sizes and sectors in the UKcan compete and prosper for thebenefit of all

_CBI’s advice to trade unionsand the government quiteinfluential

_ It is a collective economicorganization, co-owned, has legalstatus, is voluntarily established

by at least 07 members andcooperates with each other inproduction, business and jobcreation activities to meet thegeneral needs of members, on thebasis of autonomy, self-responsibility, equality anddemocracy in cooperativemanagement

_The Trade Unions Congress(TUC) is a volunatry association

of the country’s trade unions

There are more than a hundred ofthese, representing employees inall types of business

_ The TUC describes its role as

to support trade unions to growand thrive, and to stand up foreveryone who works for a living

They campaign for more andbetter jobs, and a more equal,more prosperous country

_1994, TUC declared that it wasloosing its contact with theLabour party and was going toforge closer contacts with otherparties

_The Vietnam GeneralConfederation of Labor (VGCL)

is the governing body of theTrade Union at all levels

_The Vietnam GeneralConfederation of Labor on behalf

of workers, employees andworkers

_Its mission: The leader directsthe employee movement to wishlabor and activities at all levels ofthe trade union throughout thecountry

_Represent, take care of, andprotect the legal and legitimaterights and interests of membersand employees

_The National Farmers’ Union(NFU): not belong to the TUC_ It is the largest farmers'organisation in the countries, andhas over 300 branch offices

Made up mostly of agricutural

_The Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VCCI)plays an important role on behalf

of the business community(private, public and foreigncompanies)

employers and independentfarmer.

_Have a remarkably largeinfluence (reason: specialfascination that “the land” holdsfor most British people + manymembers: wealthy => relativelyeasy for the NUF to make itsdemand heard)

_Is a member of the InternationalOrganization of Employersdynamic (IOE)

=>Reason: Because of the differences in economic, political and historicalinstitutions, it leads to the different between British and Vietnames about working styleand labour organizations

The industriousness:

_ Both British and Vietnamese seem to spend a lot of time for work althoughthey may not like work very much

_ Women still tend to stay in “the job market”

_ However, in terms of productivity, Vietnamese labours can’t catch up withBritish

=>Reason:

+ UK economy has a high level of development Although there are many skill jobs in major economic sectors, the productivity of this group is not inferior tothat of the highly skilled workforce

low-+ The really productive parts of the UK economy are probably in financialservices and software development – which can make profit in the short time Thenurses worked long hours and even were not rewarded

+ Confusion about productivity: Productivity is producing more in the sameamount of time, not the number of hours you work Because of this mistake, in somedeveloping countries, many low-wage workers try to work overtime or work overtime.This is only detrimental to health and does not create real productivity

Labour relations:

_When there is a dispute between employees and management, the matter

sometimes goes to arbitration

_Refusing the work in the normal way is generally referred to as industrialaction One of these is a ‘work to rule’, another is a ‘go slow’, and finally is ‘go onstrike’.

_Compared to Vietnam, the labours if have dispute with their management, theyusually tend to be patient and find the ways to concord with their boss Because theybelieve that “A bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit”

3 The structure of trade and industry

 The modernization of business and industry happened later

 Large scale organization had been more common in Britain than in other European countries for quite a long time

 The economic system is a mixture of private and public enterprise

 By 1980s “pure” capitalism formed a smaller part of the economy than any other country in Western Europe

 From 1980, the trend started going in the other direction

 In 1980s “market forces” rules - a major part of philosophy of the

conservative government

 Turn to state – owned company into companies owned by individuals

 1980 – 1988, more shareholders in the country than there were members of unions

 Local government authorities were encouraged to “contact out” their

responsibility for the services to commercial organization

The privatization of the services has necessitated the creation of various public

“watch dog” organization with regulatory powers over the industries which they have monitor

● A quick look at the UK structure of trade and industry today

Agriculture in the UK is intensive, highly mechanized and efficient by Europeanstandard, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 1.6% of the labour force(535.000 workers) It contributes around 0.6% of British Gross value added

The construction industry of the United Kingdom contributed gross value ofmore than 110 billion (7% GVA) to the UK economy in 2020 This industry accountsfor approximately 3 million jobs with 282 000 businesses And a quarter ofconstruction output is public sector and three-quarters is private sector

The manufacturing sector is hugely important for the UK economy, trade andinvestment UK manufacturing employment stands at over 2.7 million people andmanufacturing accounts for nearly half of all UK exports Manufacturing alsocontributes 10% of all Gross Value Added.