Theories of Low-Wage Work: Findings from an Analysis of Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment

Abstract

This is a review of 14 of the most commonly used textbooks on human behavior and the social environment as regards their content relating to low-wage work. The textbooks are divided into three categories, analyzed, and compared. Particular attention is paid to theoretical perspectives on low-wage work. In most of the textbooks, the content on low-wage work is scattered, with few textbooks providing theoretical grounding on this issue. However, several of the textbooks did provide theoretical lenses that could be applied to low-wage work. The review concludes with a discussion of how theoretical views could be incorporated better into each of the three categories.

Keywords:

• Low-wage work
• underpaid work
• working poor
• social work
• human behavior and the social environment

Notes

1. The author recognizes that not all blue-collar workers are in fact low-wage workers; nor are all low-wage workers in traditional blue-collar jobs. However, the context surrounding this statement implied that the authors were using “blue-collar” as a euphemism for low-wage workers; therefore, this statement was included in this analysis.