1. Economic Activity
Making a living

2. Types of economic activity
Copy the following:
One way to divide the way people make a living is into FORMAL and INFORMAL work.
Formal work includes all jobs where people have regular hours of work and wages. Their work may have a dress code and they may have a regular workspace. They usually pay taxes and there’s often a chance of promotion. Work is usually officially regulated or controlled, e.g. Health and Safety.
Informal work (or the grey economy) is not officially controlled and is usually untaxed. Pay is often very variable as are working conditions.

3. Types of economic activity
Which of the following do you think are formal and informal jobs?
teacher
window cleaner
baby-sitter
brick-layer
shop assistant
selling strawberries in a layby
editor of a newspaper
Think of some positive and negative aspects of both formal and informal jobs
Which do you think is better – and why?

4. Types of economic activity
Another important way to categorise economic activities is into four groups. Look at the jobs in the table below:
Shop assistant
Baker
Joiner
Librarian
Journalist
Delivery-van driver
Nurse
Pilot
Brick-layer
Welder
Assembly-line worker
Teacher
Miner
Hairdresser
Sculptor
Financial consultant
Dentist
Soldier
Forestry worker
Lawyer
Car mechanic
Chef
Farmer
Police Officer
Dancer
In the back of your book, with a partner, try and organise the jobs into four groups (they don’t need to be the same size).
What characteristics does each of your groups have?

5. Types of economic activity
Now copy the following into the front of your books:
The four groups used to divide different jobs types are:
Primary Sector: Jobs that involve getting raw materials from the ground, sea...
Secondary Sector: Jobs that involve the creation of finished products from raw materials, i.e. manufacturing. It also includes jobs in the construction industry.
Tertiary Sector: Jobs that involve the sale of goods (e.g. retail) and the provision of services (e.g. banking or health care).
Quaternary Sector: These are service jobs that involve the acquisition, manipulation and transmission of information. For this reason it is often called the ‘knowledge economy’. This includes IT, education, research and development (R&D), and the media.
Q: How are these definitions different from the groups you decided upon?

6. Types of economic activity
Using your new categories, now organise the original jobs into the four groups:
Shop assistant
Baker
Joiner
Librarian
Journalist
Delivery-van driver
Nurse
Pilot
Brick-layer
Welder
Assembly-line worker
Teacher
Miner
Hairdresser
Financial consultant
Dentist
Soldier
Forestry worker
Lawyer
Car mechanic
Chef
Farmer
Police Officer
Dancer

7. Changes in economic activity
Write the title in your book and underline it.
Copy the following:
The proportion of people employed in the different sectors is called the employment structure. Over time, it changes – usually in the same way.

8. Changes in economic activity
The data in the table below shows the employment structures for England & Wales in and Use the data to draw two pie charts side-by-side. Draw them the same size and use one colour key for both. Remember to include titles:
1841
2011
Primary
25% 2%
Secondary
42%
17%
Tertiary
33%
81%
Now answer these questions:
Why is a pie chart the best way to show this information?
Describe the changes that have happened.
Why do you think these changes have happened?
The table doesn’t show any data about the quaternary sector. Can you think why?

9. Changes in economic activity
What sector do you parents work in? Bring this info to the next lesson.

10. Changes in economic activity
Collate the number of parents in each sector for your class.
Draw a pie chart of the employment structure of the parents of your class. Use the same key as before.
How does it compare to the one for England & Wales in 2011?
Suggest reasons for any similarities or differences you can see.