The federal policy shift from skills training and toward work first strategies has come about, in part, from a misconception that "training does not work." A more comprehensive look at existing research reveals the documented effectiveness of skills training. A growing number of studies have shown skills training can increase earnings;…

This book looks at the issue of youth unemployment and examines policy responses. Part I considers the youth unemployment problem. Chapter 1 is an overview, covering size of the problem and the close relationship between youth and adult unemployment. Chapter 2 examines youth unemployment characteristics and distribution of unemployment across…

An evaluation was conducted of the Texas Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSE&T)/Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program Conformance Demonstration. The BOND (Better Opportunities for New Directions) demonstration program tested conformance compatibility between the FSE&T and JOBS programs. It enacted such policy changes as…

This serial is in four sections. Part 1--Features: "American Social Policy"; "A Generational Perspective on Young Adults"; "Rising Income Inequality and Poverty"; "A Victim of Policy Neglect? 'Wealth Inequality'"; "Balancing Growth with Economic Equality"; "Economic Inequality: 'A Comparative…

In the past few years, union activists and some policymakers have increasingly portrayed part-time work as problematic for a worker. According to statistics compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the part-time "problem" is more rhetoric than reality. Only 17% of U.S. workers are classified as part-time. Of those 17%, 15% are…

This document examines strategies for preventing working families and disadvantaged youth from needing cash assistance and becoming dependent on welfare. The document begins with a brief discussion of the tenuous nature of the boundary between families who need public assistance and families who don't and factors contributing to welfare…

This report discusses the education and empowerment of Hispanic Americans, stressing the importance of expanding access to educational opportunity from preschool through graduate and professional school. The report focuses on closing the educational and opportunity gap faced by Hispanics in the United States. After an introduction, "A Hard Look at…

Student outcomes at Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) institutes were compared to those at Australian universities. The study was based on data from a survey completed by 39,426 individuals who had graduated from TAFE courses in 2000 and a survey of the more than 150,000 individuals who graduated from an Australian university in…

The career and technical education (CTE) system before Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 has been characterized as traditionally dominated by gender segregation and discrimination. The most damaging consequence of such gender bias is to limit females' access to the benefits of CTE--the living wage that provides females the same economic…

The Sectoral Employment Development Learning Project (SEDLP) examined industry-based ("sectoral") approaches to employment training to determine whether they can help low-income individuals advance in the labor market. The SEDLP sample included 732 individuals at baseline, including 185 recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy…

Australia's retailing sector is the largest single industry of employment, with more than 1.2 million workers. It is characterized by high levels of part-time and casual employment; a young work force, including many young people still in full-time education; and employment widely distributed geographically. Over the past 10 years, employment has…

In the past few years an important beginning has been made toward defining and exploring the major issues in the economics of higher education. The research of economists covers a wide range of problems, from that of the Nation's requirements for college-trained people, to detailed questions of financing. Perhaps no single area of this work offers…

The purpose of "Focus" is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Changing poverty and changing antipoverty policies…

A representative survey of over 30,000 people aged 16-64 years across the 15 member states of the European Union and Norway sought Europeans' preferences for increasing or reducing the number of hours worked per week. Key finding included the following: (1) 51% preferred to work fewer hours in exchange for lower earnings while 12% preferred to…

In response to the need for instructional materials to help limited-English-proficient Cambodian-speaking adults become self-sufficient in American society, 10 lessons in job search and related skill areas are presented. Each lesson begins with a teacher's guide, which gives an overview of the text, notes on vocabulary and phrases, and a number of…