Membership makeup of this unions - Essay Example

Firstly, with regards to the demographic makeup of these unions, it must be understood that the German unions are almost exclusively made up of individuals that it been within the workforce for a period of time. As such, the average age group that is demonstrated by these individuals is necessarily higher than would be for entry-level employees; represented within the German system as an average age of 43. Comparatively, did the fact that unionization is requirement within the Chinese system, the average age is much lower at 37.

5 years of age. It is of course necessary to note the key differential is economies is the fact that the German unionization system is voluntary; although heavily impacted by the extent to which government oversight integrates with economic development (Fitzenberger et al 148). Moreover, with respect to the Chinese system, the Communist party insists that any and all enterprise must necessarily be overseen by and ultimately managed by the state. Although a great degree of liberalization is taken place in recent years, the level and extent to which unionization has dropped in China is not indicative of a fully capitalist system.

Similarly, with regards to the overall level of minority composition that is represented within these two systems, Germany has a minority representation within the unions of approximately 14%. This is somewhat interesting due to the fact that the minority population Germany only registers around 8%. With respect to the Chinese system, the dynamic is considerably different. Due to the fact that minorities make up only around 8% of the Chinese population, the reality of union representation is surprising.

As a result of the fact that the Western regions of China represent the lion’s share of the minorities and due to the fact that these regions are on the whole un-industrialized, the level of union participation among minorities is approximately 2% (Wang 680). Likewise, with regards to the sexes and their overall representation within the unions, Germany represents a gender representation of males to females that is nearly 3:1. However, as has been previously discussed, the nature of government involvement within the unions of China means that a much larger precentage of participation by females is realized.

Due to this fact, the level of participation among the female population within China is much higher and represents an overall dynamic around 1.5:1. Although it may be assumed that the ratio would be closer to 1:1, the fact of the matter is that no matter how industrialized the economy or the region, there continues to be a differential with regards to the total integration of the workforce based upon males and females. Moreover, with regards to the relatively lower level of female participation within the unions of Germany, this of course can be understood as a dynamic that is the result of the overall percentages of industrial workers that make up the broad majority of union members.

Due to the fact that these are traditionally male dominated jobs, the level of female participation within the unions of Germany are necessarily constrained. Work Cited Fitzenberger, Bernd, Karsten Kohn, and Wang Qingwei. "The Erosion Of Union Membership