Key Arguments

• If the working day increases (e.g., from 10 to 12 hours) but the daily wage stays the same, the hourly rate decreases
• If the worker works longer hours to get a higher total wage, the price per hour may still remain constant or fall
• Increased labor intensity can produce the same result as extended duration

Source Quotes

The price of the working hour thus found serves as the unit measure for the price of labour. It follows therefore that daily and weekly wages may remain the same, although the price of labour falls constantly. If, for example, the usual working day is 10 hours and the daily value of labour-power 3 shillings, the price of the working hour is 3 ⁄ d.

Despite all this, daily or weekly wages remain unchanged. Inversely, daily or weekly wages may rise, although the price of labour remains constant or even falls. If, for instance, the working day is 10 hours and the daily value of labour-power 3 shillings, the price of one working hour is 3 d.

The same result might follow if, instead of the extensive magnitude of labour, its intensive magnitude increased. The rise of nominal daily or weekly wages may therefore be unaccompanied by any change in the price of labour, or may even be accompanied by a fall in the latter. The same thing holds for the income of the worker’s family, when the quantity of labour provided by the head of the family is augmented by the labour of the members of his family.

Key Concepts

• daily and weekly wages may remain the same, although the price of labour falls constantly
• daily or weekly wages may rise, although the price of labour remains constant or even falls
• rise of nominal daily or weekly wages may therefore be unaccompanied by any change in the price of labour

Context

Marx explaining the inverse or non-linear relationship between total take-home pay and the value of the labor sold