wage slavery
1
8.1
- noun
- /weɪdʒ ˈsleɪvəri/
- Slang
:
esclavitud salarial
- Critics argue that excessive overtime and minimal compensation create an environment of wage slavery.
Examples
-
Well into the late 19th century in the United States and elsewhere, the degradation suffered by workers subject to "wage slavery" was contrasted with the paradigmatic independent entrepreneur, or artisan, who worked for no one but himself.
Academic text (2005) -
The documentary highlighted stories of individuals who escaped wage slavery to pursue better opportunities.
-
They're too busy planning the next move in taking over the US and forcing the rest of us into wage slavery.
Blog text (21) -
Free market labor arbitrage leads to the present conditions of wage slavery, indentured or what have you.
Blog text (9) -
People can be channeled into wage slavery or chattel slavery by law and finance.
Blog text (2) -
It is just another absurdity that we endure in this system of wage slavery and class rule by the people who own the lion's share of the collective product of labor.
Blog text (27) -
By the time students reach their senior year—the same age at which Thoreau was formulating his philosophy of freedom from wage slavery—it is too late for them.
Academic text (2004) -
The inner cities do not presently have the capacity to create wealth via primary-sector resource extraction or secondary-sector manufacturing, so most people survive on service-sector jobs, i.e., the wage slavery of providing labor for others, plus, of course, illicit trade and theft.
Blog text (13) -
Eventually, most workers and their organizations resigned themselves to the subordinate role of employee and fought for its reformation through an array of rights, minimum labor standards, and structures for collective representation—all to the end of transforming "wage slavery" into a decent way of economic life for ordinary workers.
Academic text (2018) -
Many workers feel trapped in wage slavery due to low pay and harsh working conditions.
Synonyms
746
3.4
A person legally owned by someone else who must work without pay or freedom
47
3.8
A factory where people make clothes for very low pay in bad, unsafe conditions
31
8.9
To be forced to work for and obey another person like a slave
17
6.3
Being forced to work for someone as their slave
14
4.6
Very hard work done in bad conditions for little or no pay
1
9.9
A person forced to row a ship as a slave, often meaning someone who does very hard work
1
8.9
An employer forces people and their families to work to pay a debt, often for generations
A person forced to work without pay for someone else
Antonyms
608
3.0
Freedom from control by others, for example when a country is free or a person supports themselves
How Exploitative
- Slang
1
8.1
79
5.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase transparently combines 'wage' (payment for work) with 'slavery' (being under someone's control), so a learner who knows both words can infer a situation of being economically compelled to work for very low pay. This is a straightforward metaphorical composition that is cross-linguistically common and therefore likely understandable to a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Wage slavery was used by workers and reformers to compare earning a tiny wage to the lack of freedom in slavery, giving a strong picture of being trapped by a job. So, it now means 'working for very low pay with little control or choice'.