Standard 13: Income

Grade 8 Benchmarks

1. Employers are willing to pay wages and salaries to workers because they expect to be able to sell the goods and services that those workers produce or prices high enough to cover the wages and salaries and other costs of production.

2.To earn income people sell productive resources. These include their labor, capital, natural resources and entrepreneurial talents.

3. A wage or salary is the price of labor; it usually is determined by the supply of and demand for labor.

4. More productive workers are likely to be of greater value to employers and earn higher wagers than less productive workers.

5. Peoples’ incomes, in part, reflect choices they have made about education, training, skill development, and careers. People with few skills are more likely to be poor.

Grade 12 Benchmarks

2. In a labor market, in the absence of other changes, a higher wage increases the reward for work and reduces the willingness of employers to hire workers.

3. The hope of achieving wealth can affect productivity by energizing people to work harder, while the hopelessness of escaping poverty can discourage people from trying.

4. Changes in the prices of productive resources affect the incomes of the owners of those productive resources and the combination of those resources used by firms.

5. Changes in demand for specific goods and services often, in the short run, affect the incomes of the workers who make those goods and services.

• Supply and Demand Online Module
• Economic Lowdown Video Series—Equilibrium
• Economic Lowdown Audio Series—Market Equilibrium
• Supply and Demand Smartboard Applications