Current Population Survey data reveal that the incidence of underemployment for Mexican American males was twice as high as white males, and underemployment was 1.6 times higher for Mexican American females than white females. Joblessness among Mexican Americans accounted for less than one-third of their underemployment. Young and poorly educated…

Analyzes New York City's occupational skills requirements, matching locally derived skill ratings for detailed census occupations to years of schooling, then estimating change in mean skill requirement for employed residents and change in local employment of occupational skills by level of required education. Results show insignificant change in…

This paper directly tests for differences in returns to education between the employed and self-employed in Hong Kong. Using a step-function, we find significantly smaller returns for the self-employed, suggesting that in the highly competitive labor market of Hong Kong education plays a signaling role. This pattern persists for both genders, when…

We study whether the combined significant reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio and increase in parental education observed in Italy between the end of the second World War and the end of the 1980s have had a significant impact on the educational attainment and the labor market returns of a representative sample of Italians born between 1941 and…

A large and persistent association between education and health has been well-documented in many countries and time periods and for a wide variety of health measures. In their paper, "Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence," presented at the National Poverty Center conference "The Health Effects of Non-Health Policy," David M.…

This research monograph prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy is primarily designed to describe and analyze the net annual fiscal contributions (tax payments minus cash and in-kind transfers and institutionalization costs) of U.S. adults (ages 16-64) by their educational attainment in recent years. The report begins with an…

Analyzed seven subsamples of young males, homogeneous with respect to race and age, who were unmarried and in school in 1966. Those in the younger cohorts who had married early had less educational attainment were less likely to be enrolled in school in 1970, and had lower educational aspirations. (Author)

More than half of all California youth ages 13 to 24 have a foreign-born parent. Because a large number of these immigrant parents have a limited education, lack of improvement in educational attainment from one generation to the next would have serious implications for the state economically as well as socially. Education is an important…

Large increases in educational attainment have resulted in dramatic shifts in the composition of educational groups. Utilizing 1960-90 Decennial Census and other data, this paper uses educational ranks (cohort-specific relative rankings in educational attainment) as a control for changes in the composition of educational groups. This approach…

Comparison of U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics and German Socioeconomic Panel data found similarities in correlation of earnings and working hours for fathers and sons. Correlation for daughters and mothers was stronger in the United States, where more women are in the labor force. Intergenerational correlations in educational attainment were…

Data from the 1970 and 1980 census and the 1987 Current Population Survey presents the trends behind the shift in the economic position of Puerto Ricans. Discusses changes in labor force participation, employment, and average earnings for Puerto Rican males and females with attention to nativity and gender differences. Suggests polarization of…

Using data from the National Adult Literacy Survey, explores the English fluency and literacy of U.S. adults whose native language is not English, their fluency and literacy in their native language, and their employment patterns and earnings. Data show that only nonnative English speakers with low levels of formal education were truly…

Findings from an evaluation of a workplace literacy program funded by the State of Indiana are presented. Working with employers, providers were given considerable latitude to design their own training regimens. The state awarded certificates to workers who achieved certain levels of proficiency in reading, math, critical thinking, problem solving…

When chronicling how less-skilled workers have fared in the U.S. since the late 1970's, existing literature often cites their falling wages and declining participation in the labor force. Most research describing these trends, however, focuses primarily on men, failing to account for the fact that less-skilled women's real wages have not fallen,…

During the past two decades 2-year colleges have become an increasingly important part of the American higher education system, especially for Hispanics who are disproportionately likely to start their careers in 2-year colleges. Given that today's economy rewards college attendance more than every before [Bound & Johnson (1992). "The…