Apprenticeships are structured training programs that combine paid on-the-job learning with classroom instruction and provide a pathway to industry-recognized qualifications in in-demand occupations. The apprenticeship route can offer an alternative to traditional college (and college debt), yet traditionally, women have been much less likely to…

Burkhauser and Daly claim that Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is growing at an unsustainable rate and has depressed employment rates and incomes of people with disabilities following enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. In the authors' view, SSDI is sustainable and affordable, despite increasing prevalence of…

Since 1979, the wage gap between women and men has narrowed significantly, falling by more than 10 percent overall. The closing of the wage gap has slowed considerably in the 1990's, however, with women's real wages (adjusted for inflation) stagnating in recent year and men's wages continuing to decline. The lack of growth in both women's and…

Described are the American occupational structure by sex existing in 1970 and 1960, and the associated reward structure for these occupations in 1969. The 1969 income differential is decomposed into components which may be attributed to (1) differences in the opportunity structure of women according to occupation, education, and weeks worked, and…

Implications from a literature review on the employment status and income of deaf people include the following: (1) serious underemployment of the deaf, (2) uncertainty about the effects of compensatory legislation on education and employment problems, and (3) significant effects of deafness on income and lifetime earning power. (SK)

Estimates of discrimination represent poor guides to decision making when discrimination is defined too broadly, when earnings differentials are not properly adjusted for changes in relative productivity, and when the present-value method used is not well-suited to the problem. Available from The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 50…

The idea that Asian Americans constitute a "model minority" needing no special help with education or employment is quite widespread, even amongst government officials. This "model minority" thesis has not been investigated empirically, in part because of the lack of a theoretical construct. An interdisciplinary model focusing…

Uses a dataset compiled by the Australian government to examine the qualifications of ostensibly skilled immigrants. Around 39% of immigrants have chosen to subject their qualifications to local assessment, and about 42% of these have been recognized as equivalent to Australian counterparts. Wage considerations are discussed. (SLD)

Studying the relationship between educational attainment and earnings inequality in eight nations using the Luxembourg Income Study database supports the view that differences in labor market institutions are important determinants of earnings inequality. Inequality is less associated with educational attainment than with differential rewards from…

A recent study drawing on data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that the wage gap between men and women has virtually disappeared, and that the so-called "glass ceiling" results more from age and qualifications than from explicit discrimination. (SLD)

Evaluates the impact of the 1954 "Brown" decision and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on equal opportunity for women. Reviews the similar struggles faced by Blacks and women in the areas of education and employment. (GC)

This research report presents data that show that substantial progress was made toward economic equality on the basis of gender in New York (New York) during the 1980s. Using the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Census of Population for New York, the study demonstrates that, in the 1980s: (1) the labor force participation of women grew sharply while that of men…

Using data from 1974 to 1977 National Opinion Research Center Surveys, the investigator examined differentials in income between currently employed white men and women aged 25 to 64 (sample size: 965 men and 672 women). Special attention was given to explanatory effects of occupational characteristics other than those traditionally used in the…

Although men and women work in jobs requiring approximately equal levels of education and in occupations with approximately equal prestige, working women earn only about 60% as much on the average as do working men. This disparity in income has important social consequences and is widely perceived as inequitable. One form of this type of…

The size of the earnings gap between men and women has not changed substantially in recent years. The sustained earnings differential contrasts significantly with recent gains women have made in the job market. Several factors contribute to the wage differences: (1) The majority of women are in lower-paying occupations and lower-status jobs even…