WorkAdvance is a sectoral workforce development program designed to meet the needs of workers and employers alike. For unemployed and low-wage working adults, the program provides skills training in targeted sectors that have good-quality job openings with room for advancement within established career pathways. For employers in those sectors,…

Federal and state governments in the United States make extensive use of student poverty rates in compensatory aid programs like Title I. Unfortunately, the measures of student poverty that drive funding allocations under such programs are biased because they fail to reflect geographic differences in the cost of living. In this study, we construct…

At this moment, roughly 12 million Americans are unable to find work, with more than 40 percent of that number unemployed for six months or more. At the same time, current estimates put the number of job vacancies in this country at 3 million per month. The most popular explanation for this apparent paradox, the one put forth by former President…

A central organizing framework of the voluminous recent literature studying changes in the returns to skills and the evolution of earnings inequality is what we refer to as the canonical model, which elegantly and powerfully operationalizes the supply and demand for skills by assuming two distinct skill groups that perform two different and…

This research investigates the incidence and wage effects of overskilling for vocational education and training (VET) graduates in Australia between 2001 and 2006. Overskilling is defined as the extent to which workers are able to use their skills and abilities in their current job. The authors compare overskilling with other measures of skill…

While employment growth has accelerated, allowing unemployment to fall significantly since 2005, many low-skilled workers are still unemployed and the duration of unemployment spells is still long. The introduction of an in-work benefit for workers in low-income households, subject to a minimum of hours worked, could lower barriers to higher…

The probable effects on the U.S. labor market of a continued high rate of illegal immigration are examined. The impact each additional immigrant has on the employment of the domestic population, on GNP, and on the distribution of income is estimated. (CT)

Responses to a questionnaire survey of workers in a machine tool and parts company showed that internal labor market practices generally made a greater contribution to blue collar earnings than skill or knowledge acquired by workers before joining the firm. (Author/DS)

A study examined the labor market mobility of displaced workers, using a new data file that matches the January 1984, 1986, and 1988 Displaced Worker Surveys (DWS) to the March Current Population Surveys in the same years. This large database provides information on displaced workers and their families and permits comparison of the geographic…

A study of 678 unskilled and semiskilled workers found that (1) those receiving on-the-job training were paid less and had less seniority; (2) those with off-the-job training (OFJT) or refresher courses had more seniority and more promotions; (3) OFJT related to lower projected longevity; and (4) educational level was related to pay. (SK)

This paper reviews evidence from industry-specific and case studies that shed light on the extent to which computers and automation eliminate jobs, raise job skill requirements, and, consequently, contribute to increased wage inequality between less- and more skilled workers. This paper complements a previous review of large-scale econometric…

IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY CHARACTERISTICS OF HOME ENVIRONMENT WHICH RELATED TO THE WORKER'S EMPLOYMENT RECORD, TO TEST METHODS OF OBTAINING INFORMATION, AND TO DEVELOP RATIONALE FOR LATER TESTING, DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM COMPANY RECORDS, A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF 40 EMPLOYEES IN TWO GROUPS, AND INTERVIEWS OF EMPLOYEES' WIVES. ALL PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE…

This book contains 13 papers on labor market and welfare reform, with special emphasis on the demand for low-wage workers, wages and job characteristics in the less skilled labor market, public politics to increase employment and earnings of less skilled workers, and the impact of welfare reform. The following papers are included: "The Labor…