Discusses options which, if adopted, would result in major changes to the way in which costs of training are shared in Australia. In the internal levy model, a minimum training expenditure obligation is imposed on enterprises, after the French system; in the Australian system, training levies have been external, requiring enterprises to contribute…

Examines the advantages and disadvantages of partial retirement--the transitional period between full-time employment and complete retirement--including easing the transition, labor market effects, and financial implications for social security systems and employers. Reviews partial retirement policies in eight countries and concludes that there…

Law discusses a major legislative initiative on trade union education and paid educational leave in New Zealand. A second article describes France's new law covering leave for economic, social, and trade union education. (SK)

Examines France's trade policies on vocational training at all levels and the role of companies and trade unions in the system. Reveals the complex legal, institutional, and organizational reality of training in France today. (Author)

Reviews the origin and evolution of special protection laws in France for employed women, describes those measures that still exist, and explains what employers, unions, and the authorities think of them. Discusses pregnancy, family responsibilities, and technological progress. (CT)

Over the past 20 years, continuing vocational training in France has evolved within an innovative institutional system that has produced results. The goals of the institutional program are to: (1) give individuals who had been excluded from initial training a second chance; (2) give people greater control over their lives by improving their level…

Policy developments resulting from increased women's participation in the labor force are described for each of five European countries. The societal factors that led to the development of alternative policy models in these countries are analyzed. (Author/MC)

The first article comments on workers' education courses in France, specifically the training of retired workers. The second article gives a brief, up-to-date survey of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers' principal training activities. The last article examines programs at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies. (CT)

There are few long-term studies in which the development of vocational education and training (VET) is placed in a larger societal framework. Consequently, there is limited understanding as to why VET has evolved quite differently even in countries with similar economic and social development. In his reflections on a possible theoretical framework…

In this article, the author discusses her comparative study of the history of the welfare state in the United States, England, and France, she studies some of the usual features of the welfare state, which include important entitlement programs, such as social insurance, and protective labor legislation, but she also focuses on the development of…

This book contains nine papers devoted to the psychological experience of youth employment and its role in shaping future employment experiences and expectations. "Introduction" (Julian Barling, E. Kevin Kelloway) emphasizes the diversity of young people as a group and the diversity of individual youth's employment experience. "The…

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…