What is the largest occupation in the United States?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
What is the largest occupation in the United States?
What is one consequence of that type of job being the most common job in the United States?
Which of these types of jobs do most American children grow up dreaming of?
Is this information legitimately good news?
The median wage of a home health aide is $33,585 a year and $645 a week. Is that enough to live on?
I have worked a number of the jobs listed in the visual above: retail salesperson, a cashier, fast food, and stocker/order filler. These are all honorable jobs. How will automated checkouts, AI, and robots impact this work?
How different do you think this chart would have looked fifty years ago?
In an ideal world, what would the most common job in the United States be?
The U.S. has one of the lowest rates of unionized labor in the developed world. How does that impact the American economy and politics?
Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.Why do we even have a Labor Day in the first place?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Today is Labor Day. Thank someone who labored for you today.
Get Creative
Imagine you were a home health aide. What do you think that work would be like. Write a description of a day at work.
Learning Extension
You can see a slideshow from NPR's Planet Money of how the most common job in each state has changed, year by year, since 1978.