A study used data for the 1987 calendar year from the 1986 and 1987 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine the impact of union membership on women's wages and job tenure. The data set included 17,200 sample members, representing about 79 million workers, aged 16-64. The study mapped the distribution of union…

A study used data from the 1998 Current Population Survey to document job growth in the public and private sectors and examine the quality of jobs in terms of wages and benefits. Findings indicated public sector employment declined for both women and men during the period from 1979-98 with a somewhat sharper decline among men. In 1998, median…

A national study, including state-by-state breakouts, analyzed Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data to explore the wage gap. Median weekly earnings of men and women and of minorities and nonminorities were analyzed. Gender-based earnings differences and gender wage gaps were large for all women--and especially large for minority…

A study conducted a questionnaire survey of 70 refugee women in Illinois and 2 service provider focus groups to assess the effects of welfare changes on refugee women and to identify barriers to workforce participation. Survey findings were that refugee women in the workforce are concentrated in low-wage jobs and do not earn enough income to move…

Most female workers in developing countries do not have wage jobs. However, the preponderance of female workers in non-wage jobs is not consistent across all developing countries. It is highly likely that the proportion of non-wage female workers in developing countries is greater than is suggested by the statistics. Consequently, mothers in the…

Young women perceive themselves today as equally entitled, active citizens of society. Women's interest in helping to shape politics and society has grown. The German Women's Council, an umbrella organization of about 100 German women's associations, commemorates this year the 100th anniversary of the death of Louise Otto-Peters, the founder of…

This book explains major trends in the U.S. labor market over the last quarter-century. Chapter 1 presents hypotheses regarding the changing labor market. Chapter 2 looks at cognitive skills and formal education as determinants of employment. Chapter 3 develops the argument that the downward occupational mobility arising from changes in the supply…

Data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau (the Current Population Survey and Survey of Income and Program Participation) and other federal agencies were used to examine trends in the ways different cohorts of women born between 1906 and 1975 have attempted to balance motherhood, marriage, and employment. The study focused on the following:…

In the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, employment trends have been considerably more favorable than in Germany. A country is considered successful in an employment policy context if unemployment is falling steadily or is low and if employment is increasing steadily or the employment rate has reached a high level.…

The entry of working welfare mothers into the labor market will have an impact on the wages and employment of low-skilled workers. This impact was examined through a labor market analysis of available statistical data about the U.S. population and employment patterns. The characteristics of workers likely to enter the labor market because of…

Data from the Current Population Surveys of October 1984, October 1989, and January 1991 were used to examine the role of computer and mathematical skills in the U.S. labor market from 1984-91. Particular attention was given to their actual and potential effect on the economic status of women. Data confirmed the overall increase in the education…

This study examined the characteristics of dislocated workers' wage profiles upon reemployment. In particular, it related these profiles to the model developed by Mincer and Ofek (1982). An inference from this model was that workers recovered wage losses relatively rapidly. Explanations for a steeply sloped reentry wage profile were as follows:…

These 14 papers address many dimensions of gender inequality at work. The empirical studies include examinations of original surveys, secondary analyses of large data sets, and historical reports assaying the significance of personal, family, and structural factors with regard to gender in the workplace. An introduction (Jacobs) sketches how sex…

The Women's Bureau enlisted more than 1,600 partners to distribute a questionnaire asking women about their lives as workers. The partners included the following: more than 300 businesses, 900 grassroots organizations, 75 unions, daily newspapers, national magazines, and federal agencies in all 50 states, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.…

Studies indicate these potential sources of wage differentials between women and men: women have different skills and qualifications; they work in the same jobs and establishments and have equal qualifications but receive unequal pay; and they work in different jobs or establishments, where pay is low, but have qualifications similar to men…