This series of thirteen reports reviewing available information on the causes and dimensions of youth employment is designed to provide an information base for policy formation. (It constitutes the first of a three-volume compendium; other volumes deal with special needs and problems of youth employment policy and with program experience --see note.) The first four articles provide an analysis, needs assessment, sequential and developmental perspective, and facts and figures on youth employment problems. Age status differentials, intervention strategies, and teenage choices about work are discussed. Other issues examined include the need for youth employment policy, the social psychology of poor youth as related to employment, and the social costs of youth employment problems. A summary of youth views solicited by twenty-five National Football League players is given in one report. The final two reports cover youth differentials to the minimum wage and costs and benefits of part-time employment of in-school youth. (MN)