Four minority groups are identified in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Employer Information Report: (1) Negro; (2) Oriental; (3) American Indian; and (4) Spanish Surnamed Americans. Together, these groups in 1970 numbered about 34.5 million people, or about 17 percent of the population. This paper reports on the status of…

Contingent workers are those employed in jobs that do not fit the traditional description of a full-time, permanent job with benefits. Contingent work takes the form of part-time, temporary, and contract employment. The number of contingent workers in 1988 has been estimated at between 29.9 and 36.6 million, representing 25-30 percent of the…

The number of employed Americans increased but so did the number of those without jobs, as recovery from the 1980 recession proved to be brief; the family income of high-wage workers exceeded the poverty level, even when unemployed. (Author/SSH)

Stagnant or declining wages for less-educated workers make policies to upgrade the job market options for low wage workers an urgent priority. One in three low wage workers lives in a low income family. The link between low basic skills and low wages is strong. No single standard of minimum skill requirements applies to all middle income jobs, and…

Job displacement represents a serious labor market problem affecting a broad spectrum of the labor force. A study used data from the January 1984 Displaced Worker Survey, a supplement to the Current Population Survey, which analyzed patterns of job displacement, the post-displacement reemployment, and earnings experience of displaced workers. The…

The Sectoral Employment Development Learning Project conducted a longitudinal survey of participants of industry-based workforce development programs about two years after completing training. Outcomes for unemployed and underemployed workers--77 percent of the sample--indicated increased hours worked and increased earnings per hour produced…

Utilizing a data file extracted from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center's Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines the work experiences of a national sample of non-aged heads of households. This data source, which describes heads of households and structural characteristics of labor markets, is unique in that…

This study was conducted to determine how many workers are in low-wage jobs; their characteristics and changes in their characteristics over time; the characteristics of the low-wage jobs; gender, sex, and racial factors influencing participation in low-wage jobs; and the relationship of low-wage work to family poverty and welfare receipt. The…

This book reports on the effects of economic restructuring on the livelihood of working families in a rural Vermont county. Specifically, a study investigated family strategies to ensure and enhance daily survival including gainful employment (informal and formal), moonlighting, self-provisioning efforts, and non-monetary exchanges with other…

Based on the National Longitudinal Surveys of over 10,000 men and women aged eighteen to twenty-seven who were interviewed annually from 1966 through 1971, this study investigates how the youth labor market operates and identifies its manpower problems that should be addressed by policymakers. A five-part recursive model is established for the…

Multi-year applied research studied operations and outcomes of six employment initiatives that developed industry-based approaches to workforce development. Findings from the longitudinal survey of 732 individuals indicated participants in sectoral programs improved their position within local labor markets; increased wages, hours worked, and…

A study analyzed the extent to which escape from or entry into low-wage status among adult workers is associated with changes in employers and their characteristics. The research used a database that consisted of quarterly establishment records of the employment earnings of almost all individuals (11,207,031) who worked in Illinois from the first…

A survey of 205 people, 4 group interviews with approximately 30 people, and 6 design and analysis meetings involving approximately 40 people were conducted in a 1999 participatory study of contingent workers in Toronto. (Contingent work was defined to be lower-waged forms of non-permanent work arrangements that include contracting, employment…