A study examined why employers use temporary agency and contract company workers and implications of these practices for wages, benefits, and working conditions of workers in low-skilled labor markets. Case studies in manufacturing (automotive supply), services (hospitals), and public sector (primary and secondary schools) industries defined the…

An evaluation of Jobs First (JF) compared the experiences of JF participants who were subject to welfare reform policies with those of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) participants who were subject to prior welfare rules. It collected information for four years about JF's impacts on participants' children and analyzed its financial…

This study investigated factors leading to employment and unemployment for young people living in urban and rural areas in Scotland. Surveys and interviews were conducted with 817 youths, 40 rural employers, and 25 professionals from across Scotland. Findings include: (1) long-term youth unemployment was less common in rural than in urban areas,…

A study examined character and consequences of student part-time work using data from the 1975 birth cohort of the Youth in Transition project of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth program. Findings indicated that most students worked because they liked the independence their job gave, enjoyed the work, and believed the experience would…

This report investigates the future supply of and demand for certain types of skilled labour at the trades and sub-trades levels that will be required for these projects up to 2010. In particular, it focuses on skilled labour in the mechanical, fabrication and electrical trades and mobile plant operators and construction workers in the sub-trades.…

After remaining virtually unchanged from 1995 through the 1970s, the wage gap between women and men began to decline in the 1980s. By the early 1990s, the ratio of the annual earnings of women employed full time year-round to the annual earnings of their male counterparts reached 72.0%. That ratio decreased slightly (to 71.4%) in 1995. The wage…

Data from Australia's Department of Employment, Education and Training were analyzed to determine the relationship between the costs and returns of secondary education in Australia. The analysis focused on changes in the following: the earnings premium from having a level of educational attainment equivalent to completing at least secondary…

The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training has developed a thematic network on the Circle for Research Cooperation on Trends in Occupations and Qualifications (Ciretoq) to follow up its preliminary work on trends in qualifications and certification. On the basis of available surveys and surveys evaluated by Ciretoq, the…

In 1996, the child care fields employed about 2.3 million workers, and opportunities in these fields are expected to grow at a faster than average rate through the year 2005. The training and qualifications required of child care workers vary widely. Each state has licensing requirements that regulate caregiver training, ranging from a high school…

This book reports on the effects of economic restructuring on the livelihood of working families in a rural Vermont county. Specifically, a study investigated family strategies to ensure and enhance daily survival including gainful employment (informal and formal), moonlighting, self-provisioning efforts, and non-monetary exchanges with other…

This collection of papers focuses on urban inequalities in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles. There are 11 chapters in 3 parts. The book begins with an introduction, "Understanding Inequality in the Late Twentieth-Century Metropolis: New Perspectives on the Enduring Racial Divide" (Alice O'Connor) and chapter 1,…

In the 1960s, German industry experienced a greater need for labor. Recruitment agreements for "guestworkers" were concluded with a number of Mediterranean countries, with the opinion at the time being that temporary immigration would be in the interests of all involved: German firms would get cheap labor, the "guestworkers"…

Many economists and policymakers believe that the growth in inequality in the last 2 decades reflects mostly an imbalance between the demand for and the supply of employee skills driven by technological change, particularly the spread of computers. However, the empirical basis for this belief is not strong. The growth in inequality was…

Data from longitudinal school leavers' surveys in France and Ireland were compared to determine types of transition pathways leading to unsuccessful conclusions. Focus was on outcomes of the transition process for school leavers unemployed five years after leaving and for employed young people whose earnings did not allow them to be financially…

The overall participation and performance of disabled students in vocational education and training (VET) programs in Australia in 2000 were analyzed. The analysis was based on data from National Centre for Vocational Education Research collections and surveys. The following were among the key findings: (1) the number of VET students reporting a…