Potential Pitfall - A-Level GP Paper 1

Here are the potential pitfall/s that appeared in the 2023 A-Level GP Paper.

QUESTION 1

⁠How realistic is it for countries to implement a national minimum wage for all their workers?

Pitfall 1: 

Problem

The keyword “realistic” is potentially a trap into which students may fall. Students who miss out on this keyword could hijack the question, and respond to the following question instead:

Are countries implementing a national minimum wage for all their workers? 

Hijacking the question fundamentally changes the demands of the question.

Solution

To accurately respond to the question is to first recognise that “realistic” is really asking whether countries CAN or CANNOT implement a national minimum wage for all their workers. This question is a question of possibility. 

Pitfall 2: 

Problem

In generating content, the topical term “national minimum wage” is ambiguous. Students may rush into defining this by giving a number.  Countries across the world have diverse economic structures, and what is acceptable at a wage level to one country could still be detrimental to another country. Failing to acknowledge different economic conditions can result in a one-size-fits-all analysis. This could lead to failure of logic in the arguments.  

Solution

Define this term qualitatively rather than quantitatively. The essence of “national minimum wage” is to ensure that workers have enough income to meet their basic needs. The cost of acquiring goods and services to meet the basic needs of these people would vary from country to country. 

Pitfall 3: 

Problem

The keyword “all” is an absolute term. As a general rule, always challenge the absolute term. An essay written to agree with an absolute term has a very high probability of failure. It is very easy to topple an argument that argues in favour of the absolute.  

Solution

Establish the thesis of the essay to a position that challenges the absolute term. Hence, for this question, the essay should be written as: 

It is not realistic for countries to implement a national minimum wage for all their workers.

The rest of the essay will then simply respond to the difficulty of implementing for ALL workers. Possible responses include:

• Diverse labour markets (Urban vs Rural) 
• Inflation vs Cost of Living 
• Effectiveness of mechanisms to ensure compliance
• Unintended consequences (Job losses, automation, shift to the informal economy, etc)