The secular increase over the past several decades in the number of families where both the husband and wife work in the paid labor force, coupled with the surge in labor force participation of single mothers in the 1990s, has heightened policy focus on child care options for working parents; federal and state governments are now major players…

Compares two models of vocational education policy in England: the traditional Learning and Skills Council approach relying on institutional change and increased skills supply and the Performance and Innovation Unit's focus on skill demand. Outlines weaknesses in the supply-side approach but suggests that demand-side policy must overcome…

Recent immigration legislation has potential impacts on migrant education and Mexican American education. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was passed after nine years of intense debate. The heart of so-called immigration reform is employer sanctions, which seek to restrict migration to the United States by prohibiting employers from…

Over the past 20 years, California has experienced a continuous, growing flow of Mexican immigrant laborers. Although Mexican labor was originally linked to agriculture, by 1980 Mexican-born labor was filling a substantial proportion of jobs in all sectors of the California economy, particularly in manufacturing. Because they are concentrated in…

Analyzes labor market effects of the aging population, examines projected population and employment trends in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries; effects on savings and productivity; and projections for 2000-2050 in six countries. Discuses national and international policies to increase employment of older adults and…

This book discusses the economics of immigration, analyzing immigrants' skills, national origins, welfare use, economic mobility, and impact on the labor market and using new data to trace current trends in ethnic segregation. Twelve chapters examine (1) "Reframing the Immigration Debate"; (2) "The Skills of Immigrants"; (3)…

Canadian federal reports of current and future demographic and employment trends, altered demand patterns, changing technology, new challenges of employment and unemployment, and a narrowing global community indicate that a comprehensive, cooperative human resource strategy is essential to economic health and international competitiveness.…

By embracing education as an economic development tool, policy makers adopt a new economic metaphor--a new way of understanding how the economy works and identifying determinants of development. Development policy has shifted focus, from providing incentives for the accumulation of physical capital to emphasizing investments in human capital. Most…

U.S. competitiveness depends on higher worker productivity, greater technological investment, and streamlined organizational structure, which require a flexible, highly trained work force. The demand for educated workers continues to rise in industrialized societies, influenced by the demand for certain goods and services, decline in real labor…

Research is examining the processes by which persistent and concentrated urban poverty is created, maintained, prevented, or overcome. This paper reports on discussion and suggestions generated in a planning meeting of the Social Science Research Council's Committee for Research on the Urban Underclass held on September 21-23, 1988. Issues…

Health professions education represents one of the South's major successes, but because of the implications of a larger supply of health professionals and the increasing costs of both health care services and the education of health professionals, it also represents one of the major challenges before state policymakers. State policymakers will be…

This paper's overiew of the relationship between vocational education and productivity includes the presentation of results from a multiple regression analysis of vocational education enrollments and various productivity indices. This tentative analysis contributes additional observations to the studies reviewed and offers pertinent suggestions…

Provided in this report are a number of empirical and conceptual papers dealing with barriers to youth employment. The first paper, "Barriers to Youth Employment: A Review," contains a summary of more than 100 reports on causes of youth employability problems and poses several alternative strategies for formulation of youth labor market policy.…

This monograph outlines public policy responses to deal with the effects of forced worklife changes fashioned by government in the United States, Japan, and Western European countries. From the Morrill Act of 1862, through New Deal policy initiatives and on to the "active" manpower policies operating in Europe, the record of government…

Keeping the existing information technology (IT) workforce viable and rapidly increasing the number of these workers presents a United States public policy workforce development (WD) challenge at all government levels. Public policy human capital investments have been undertaken to address the IT workforce supply and demand mismatch. States seem…