Unit 1

• People needed money as a universally recognized medium of exchange with a consistent value
• Employers in the UK must pay workers at least a minimum wage to ensure fair payment
• 'Income' includes all the money a person receives over a certain time period, including benefits
• We use money every day: we spend, we save, and we borrow
• Money


  Anything generally accepted as payment for goods and services
• Money needs to be recognisable and hard to copy
• Requirements for money to be accepted

  • Recognised by everyone
  • Accepted by people and shops
  • Easy to carry
  • Available in different amounts or denominations
  • Hardwearing, lasting a long time
  • Always worth the same amount
• Employees have rights such as maximum working hours, paid leave, and a day off per week
• The national minimum wage applies to UK employees aged 16–22, while the national living wage applies to those aged 23 and over
• Bartering


  Negotiation involved in swapping items before the existence of money
• UK laws regulate the age people can work, the number of hours they can work, and other work-related regulations
• Coins and banknotes have all the features of money
• Electronic balances are used to store money electronically in places like banks
• 'Earnings' are the income received for doing a job, 'wages' for weekly pay, 'salary' for yearly pay
• Before there was money, people got things by swapping items in a process called 'bartering'
• Quick Eats shifts

  • 10am to 6pm
  • 6pm to 2am
  • 2am to 10am
• Self-employed


  People who work for themselves
• The national living wage applies to all UK employees aged 23 and over
• Full-time work hours for offices and shops

  • 9am to 5pm (or 5.30pm) with one hour off for lunch for five or six days a week
• Earnings from self-employment

  Self-employed individuals find their own work and collect earnings from their customers
• School-aged children under 16 are not entitled to the national minimum wage
• Minimum wage applies to all UK employees aged 16–22
• Shifts in workplaces


  • Dividing the working day into different time periods where each period is one ‘shift’
• Part-time workers work for part of the working day, week, or year
• The minimum/living wage varies depending on the employee’s age
• Employees


  People who work for others (their ‘employer’)
• You usually can’t claim JSA if you are self-employed, under 18, or unable to work full-time
• Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a weekly payment available to students over 16 in full-time education in Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales
• In England, schools and colleges can award bursaries to students who need them as there is no EMA
• Income Support is an older benefit replaced by Universal Credit, paid to those aged 18 or over who could be available for full-time work and did not have enough money to live on
• People could work up to 16 hours a week and still claim Income Support, but wouldn't get anything if they had a certain amount of savings
• Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is a benefit payment for people who are not working
• Full-time and part-time workers have the same legal rights
• Zero-hours workers do not know from week to week whether they will be offered any work or how many hours they might be offered, making it difficult to manage their money
• Before new style JSA, there were two types: Contribution-based JSA and Income-based JSA
• Jacki is self-employed


  She decides her hours of work and what she can afford to pay herself
• Zero-hours contracts mean the employer does not have to provide minimum working hours, and the worker does not have to accept any work offered. The employee can leave at any time
• To get 'new style' JSA, the claimant must be available for and actively seeking work, between 18 years old and state pension age, and working less than 16 hours a week on average
• Dwight is an employee of The Big Office

  The Big Office decides his hours of work and his pay
• Self-employed people can choose to work part-time if they wish