This monograph presents preliminary cross-tabulation analyses of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Experience of 12,693 youth of ages 14-21 who will be interviewed annually for at least five years. (Hispanic; non-Hispanic black; and non-Hispanic, non-black, poor youth were oversampled.) Each of the twenty-four topics…

The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) began in 1994 as a major welfare initiative that differed from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) by featuring the following elements: financial incentives to work; participation requirements for long-term welfare recipients; and simplification of welfare rules and procedures. In…

New apprenticeships were introduced to Australia in January 1998 to provide practical training opportunities to a wider range of people than the traditional trade-based apprenticeship system did. The effect of the new apprenticeship initiative on the type of employment-based training being undertaken in Australia was studied by analyzing data from…

Studies of 29 welfare reform initiatives conducted by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation were synthesized in an exploration of how welfare and work policies affect employment and income. Each of the studies reviewed focused on one or more of the following key program features: mandatory employment services, earnings supplements, and…

Professionals have normally become qualified through a period of formal education followed by a structured training program and continuing professional development. This traditional pattern is being replaced with a process of lifelong learning that, thanks to the development and application of a wide range of information and communication…

Case studies of 16 firms across Australia that employ adult apprentices in the "traditional" trades were conducted to identify innovative ways of getting adults into the trades. The case studies included interviews with the firms' apprentice managers, training providers, and adult apprentices. Although some adult-friendly innovations…

The future of low-wage jobs is examined through a case study of firm restructuring in the retail industry. The study confirms that the retailing sector has come to be dominated by the Wal-Mart model, which emphasizes an efficient technology-driven inventory management system and a human resource approach that includes the following elements:…

The business press abounds with examples of innovative companies that have created high-quality jobs; however, low-wage, deskilled jobs filled by contingent workers are equally prevalent. More than one in six U.S. workers currently hold retail jobs. The effect of globalization of trade on the retail industry is unclear. The most significant…

This report examines the financing of the two components of France's vocational education and training (VET) system. They are initial vocational training (IVT), which includes upper secondary and short forms of higher education, and continuing vocational training (CVT), which aims to help workers adapt to changes in working techniques and…

This two-volume document reports on a study of globalization and Australia's training market. Volume 1 begins by examining debate on globalization and industry training in Australia. Discussed next is the study methodology, which involved field studies of the metals and engineering industry in South West Sydney and the Hunter and the information…

The transition from education to working life in the European Union (EU) was examined through a review of data from the following sources: the European Labour Force Survey; The Vocational Education and Training Data Collection (an annual collection of data produced by Eurostat); and national data supplied to the European Training Foundation by…

The position of women in South Australia's process manufacturing industry was examined, and the implications of the study findings for the vocational education and training (VET) sector were discussed. Of the 393 companies to which surveys were sent, 136 (35.8%) returned valid responses. Of the 8,000 people employed in the industry, only 26.1%…

The impacts of 20 welfare-to-work programs across the United States were evaluated to determine which clients derive the greatest benefits from different approaches to moving individuals from welfare to work. Of the 20 programs examined, 7 were characterized as employment focused, 5 provided a mix of first activities without an employment focus, 4…

This book examines how the Japanese learn to work by exploring the following topics: common assumptions about vocational education and training (VET) that Japan brings into question; Japan's general education system and the moral quality and prestige status of the teaching and learning process; screening processes within Japan's education system…

An international team of researchers studied the following aspects of training in Luxembourg's motor vehicle repair and sales sector: structure and characteristics; institutional and social context; relationship to Luxembourg's overall labor market; changing structural, economic, and organizational conditions; and training and recruitment and…