In this paper we will briefly review recent trends in employment outcomes for disadvantaged youth, focusing specifically on those who have become "disconnected" from school and the labor market, and why these trends have occurred. We then review a range of policy prescriptions that might improve those outcomes. These policies include: 1)…

This paper uses new survey data on employers in four large metropolitan areas to examine the determinants of employer demand for welfare recipients. Data come from a telephone survey of approximately 750 establishments. Results suggest a high level of demand for welfare recipients, although such demand appears fairly sensitive to business cycle…

This paper presents data showing that unions have a very substantial effect on the wages of young union workers, particularly young Blacks, but that they also have a negative effect on the wages of young Blacks who are not unionized. (Author/CT)

Studies show that the most frequently used public or private job search method among job seekers is checking with friends and relatives. This method also generates the most accepted jobs. Direct applications without referral and newspaper ads are also used relatively frequently. Less-skilled employees and minorities use the U.S. Employment Service…

In this paper we review the research evidence on the effects of affirmative action in employment, university admissions, and government procurement. We consider effects on both "equity" (or distribution) as well as "efficiency." Overall, we find that affirmative action does redistribute jobs, university admissions, and…

This monograph studies unemployment in relation to labor market vacancies throughout the United States, using a new set of data: the Survey of Firms from the Employment Opportunity Pilot Project, a labor market experiment conducted by the Department of Labor at 28 sites in 1979 and 1980. The monograph is organized in five chapters. The first…

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…