Wages and the Labour Market · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

What a wage is made of

Civics & Economics · Economics · ages 15-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Many teens chase the same cafe jobs. What happens to cafe pay?

    • It climbs without limit
    • It sags as supply swells
    • It turns into a patent

  2. Software booms and demand for coders shifts right. What happens to coder pay?

    • It climbs, as stronger demand meets the same skill supply
    • It falls to zero
    • It freezes forever by law

  3. Why do surgeons earn more than cleaners?

    • Because surgery matters and cleaning does not
    • Because few can do surgery while demand stays strong
    • Because cleaners refuse all pay

  4. A town has one dominant employer. What does that do to wages?

    • It holds wages below the competitive level
    • It doubles every wage by law
    • It removes all jobs at once

  5. A minimum wage is set above the market wage. Who gains and who risks losing?

    • Everyone gains and nobody risks anything
    • Kept workers gain pay while young seekers risk fewer openings
    • Employers gain free labour

  6. Nurses unionise and threaten to strike. What changes?

    • Pay and conditions can rise above the lone-worker bargain
    • Supply and demand stop applying
    • Hospitals close in every town

  7. Two equally skilled workers are paid differently for no fair reason. What is this?

    • Derived demand
    • A monopsony employer
    • Discrimination twisting the pay pattern

  8. A footballer earns more than a nurse because football matters more than nursing.

    Circle one:   True   False

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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

What a wage is made of W1-mt_GhsftwhrYS-s1

  1. It sags as supply swells · Plentiful workers chasing one job type push its wage down.
  2. It climbs, as stronger demand meets the same skill supply · Stronger demand for a skill pulls its wage upward.
  3. Because few can do surgery while demand stays strong · Scarce skill against strong demand is what pay gaps are made of.
  4. It holds wages below the competitive level · With nowhere else to go, workers must accept the single offer.
  5. Kept workers gain pay while young seekers risk fewer openings · Floors help the kept and squeeze the shut out; both sides count.
  6. Pay and conditions can rise above the lone-worker bargain · Collective voice shifts the deal toward better pay and safety.
  7. Discrimination twisting the pay pattern · Equal skill should earn equal pull; anything else needs a fair reason.
  8. False · Pay reflects demand against supply of holders, never moral worth.
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