A theory of strikes in higher education and a statistical analysis of strike activity are presented in this newsletter issue. The report on the theory of strikes in an article by Lisa Flanzraich addresses the absence of strikes on campuses during fall 1982 and the conditions in which strikes occur. The absence of strikes could be proof of the…

In light of pressure on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 per hour, a study looked at the effects such a raise would have on more than 10 million workers, many of them teenagers. The study used quarterly data on the labor force participation rates of teenagers from 1978 through 1999 and other studies to assess the effects of…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the median age of workers will rise from 34.8 years in 1982 to 37.3 years by 1995. In the 30 years between 1955 and 1985, the number of workers aged 45 and over has risen from 25 million to nearly 32 million. Workers over the age of 45 are established in all types of occupations. The number of men aged…

The United States is a labor surplus society, one with a persistent shortage of jobs. This labor surplus--manifested in excessively and persistently high unemployment--will continue through the 1980s. The existence of a persistent job shortage, resulting in a labor surplus of four to six million unemployed workers without a constructive economic…

A study was conducted in Hawaii to determine the status of elderly persons in regard to employment, as well as attitudes toward employment of the elderly, defined in this study as aged 55 and over. Elderly persons aged 65 and over are the fastest growing segment of Hawaii's population, projected to increase from 73,700 in 1980 to 141,000 in 2000.…

This newsletter summarizes unionization trends among college faculty and analyzes the six collective bargaining elections which took place during 1995. Academic unions represented 246,207 professors in 1995, a growth of 1.65 percent over 1994, and there were 504 bargaining agents on 1,115 campuses throughout the United States. This increase can be…

A study was conducted to provide descriptive information about dropout rates by various subgroups, their reported reasons for dropping out, and some activities after leaving school. As part of the longitudinal study, High School and Beyond, the National Center for Education Statistics surveyed 30,000 sophomore and 28,000 senior high school…

Information on the characteristics of working women in the United States and changing trends over the past quarter century are presented in this databook. (The primary source of the data is the Current Population Survey, which is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Bureau of the Census.) Part 1 of the databook provides…

This study presents data from the 1979 Income Survey Development Program (ISDP) on lifetime work interruptions and examines the relationship between work interruptions and earnings. Descriptive data showing the extent to which men and women have experienced work interruptions are presented, followed by an analysis of the impact of work…

This chartbook presents information on the extent and nature of unemployment in the United States. The statistics presented are part of a broad array of unemployment and related labor force data available from the Current Population Survey, a sample survey of some 60,000 households conducted monthly by the Bureau of the Census. The 28 charts and…

This report, the first of a six-part, intensive longitudinal study, examines the relationships between selected demographic, attitudinal, and educational characteristics of male youth in the United States and their labor market experience and occupational aspirations. The data are drawn from interviews conducted during October-December 1966, with…

This document contains three papers from an international conference on "ways and means for more employment." The first paper, "Employment Policy Comparisons and Policy Advice" (Ulrich Walwei), covers the German labor market in the second half of the 1990s and requirements for longer-term employment success through coping with…

Although youth between the ages of 16 and 19 account for only 6.7 percent of the nation's labor force, they constitute 17.9 percent of the officially unemployed. Unemployment among youth is rising. More than 46 percent of the nation's black youth and nearly 39 percent of Hispanic children currently live below the poverty level. Moreover, real…

Social statistics may exaggerate the degree of hardship caused by labor market problems. Yet, in many ways social statistics underestimate the degree of hardship caused by extended unemployment, underemployment, and low wages. Therefore, new measures are needed to reassess long-term and cyclical labor market developments, the changing status of…

In the past few years, union activists and some policymakers have increasingly portrayed part-time work as problematic for a worker. According to statistics compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the part-time "problem" is more rhetoric than reality. Only 17% of U.S. workers are classified as part-time. Of those 17%, 15% are…