Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Intergenerational Mobility: How Gender, Race, And Family Structure Affect Adult Outcomes, Jean Kimmel, Editor

Upjohn Press

This volume presents a complex portrait of the interrelationships among parents’ marital status and education, child gender, and the nature and success of children’s transitions into adulthood. The first three chapters focus on differences in parents’ investments in their children, while the final three chapters focus directly on intergenerational income mobility.

The Political Economy Of Inequality: U.S. And Global Dimensions, Sisay Asefa Editor, Wei-Chiao Huang Editor

Upjohn Press

The contributors to this book discuss a variety of forms of social inequality which include large gaps in accumulated assets, discrepancies in access to quality education, unstable family life, lack of access to banking services, poor employment prospects, lack of health care services, and underrepresentation for political and legal matters. Together, they show how these forms of inequality are interrelated with income inequality and that, taken together, they pose the risk for societal and political unrest should they be left unresolved.

The Stem Dilemma: Skills That Matter To Regions, Fran Stewart

Upjohn Press

Fran Stewart dives into the murky waters where education and economic goals meet to confront several key issues facing policymakers and educators, including the role of public investment in human capital, the types of human capital investment that provide the greatest public return, and whether those investments should vary by region.

She shows that not all high-paying jobs require STEM skills; that not all good-paying, highly skilled STEM jobs require college degrees; and that "soft skills" are important for STEM as well as other high-paying jobs.

Promise Nation: Transforming Communities Through Place-Based Scholarships, Michelle Miller-Adams

Upjohn Press

Miller-Adams describes how the various "Promise-type" place-based scholarship programs impact college access, financial aid, and community transformation.

From Preschool To Prosperity: The Economic Payoff To Early Childhood Education, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Press

Bartik shows that investment in high-quality early childhood education has several long-term benefits, including higher adult earnings for program participants.

The Time Use Of Mothers In The United States At The Beginning Of The 21st Century, Rachel Connelly, Jean Kimmel

Upjohn Press

Connelly and Kimmel focus on the time use of mothers of preteenaged children in the United States from 2003 to 2006. They explore how mothers use their time in order to better understand their lives, the lives of their partners, and the lives of their children.

Against The Tide: Household Structure, Opportunities, And Outcomes Among White And Minority Youth, Carolyn J. Hill, Harry J. Holzer, Henry Chen

Upjohn Press

The authors examine the effects of household structure on young adults and how these effects might have contributed to the negative trends in educational and employment outcomes observed for young minorities over time.

The Power Of A Promise: Education And Economic Renewal In Kalamazoo, Michelle Miller-Adams

Upjohn Press

In the first comprehensive account of the Kalamazoo Promise, Michelle Miller-Adams addresses both the potential and challenges inherent in place-based universal scholarship programs and explains why this unprecedented experiment in education-based economic renewal is being emulated by scores of cities and towns around the nation.

A Future Of Good Jobs?: America's Challenge In The Global Economy, Timothy J. Bartik , Editor, Susan N. Houseman , Editor

Upjohn Press

Can the U.S. economy generate healthy growth of “good” jobs—jobs that will ensure a steady improvement in the standard of living for the middle class and that will offer a way out of poverty for low-income Americans? In this book, leading policy analysts examine the challenges facing current U.S. labor market policy and propose concrete steps to make American workers and employers more competitive in a global economy.

Working After Welfare: How Women Balance Jobs And Family In The Wake Of Welfare Reform, Kristin S. Seefeldt

Upjohn Press

This book, tapping into the quantitative and qualitative evidence gathered in the Women’s Employment Study (WES), offers insights into the lives of women in an urban Michigan county who left welfare for work and the role their family decisions play in their labor market decisions.

Do Community Colleges Respond To Local Needs?: Evidence From California, Duane E. Leigh, Andrew M. Gill

Upjohn Press

Leigh and Gill focus on two major, policy relevant sources of change at the local level. First, on the supply side, they examine how responsive community colleges’ are at meeting the needs of the growing immigrant population for education and training. Then, on the demand side, they look into whether the need of local employers for skilled workers is being met, an issue impacted by dynamic technological change and increased global competition.

The Working Life: The Labor Market For Workers In Low-Skilled Jobs, Nan L. Maxwell

Upjohn Press

Maxwell presents the results of a survey of 405 employers, which queried them about jobs requiring no more than a high school education and no more than one year of work experience. These data allow her to establish the link between skills and low-skilled jobs and to reveal the current state of the labor market facing low-skilled workers. The data also highlights the knowledge and skills that employers require in low-skilled jobs and the abilities that individuals who apply for those jobs bring to the table.

By A Thread: How Child Care Centers Hold On To Teachers, How Teachers Build Lasting Careers, Marcy Whitebook, Laura Sakai

Upjohn Press

Marcy Whitebook and Laura Sakai examine how child care programs and their staff subsist in a field characterized by low pay, low status, and high turnover and what the impacts of these factors are on the quality of child care provided.

Kids At Work: The Value Of Employer-Sponsored On-Site Child Care Centers, Rachel Connelly, Deborah S. Degraff, Rachel A. Willis

Upjohn Press

Connelly, DeGraff, and Willis chronicle the trends in the growth in on-site child care programs and perform analyses that shed light on the value of employer-sponsored child care to employees. The authors note that employees may not be the only ones to benefit. Employers may be able to gain wage savings for the firm.

Human Capital In The United States From 1975 To 2000: Patterns Of Growth And Utilization, Robert H. Haveman, Andrew Bershadker, Jonathan A. Schwabish

Upjohn Press

This study enhances the existing measures of the nation’s human capital and the extent to which that capital is utilized. Haveman, Bershadker, and Schwabish develop an indicator of the value of the human capital stock held by the nation’s working-age population called Earnings Capacity (EC), and use it to study the time trends in aggregate human capital in the United States and human capital per worker. They also use EC to evaluate utilization of the nation’s human capital stock, thereby demonstrating the usefulness of the EC indicator in measuring the size and strength of the U.S. economy.

Workplace Education For Low-Wage Workers, Amanda L. Ahlstrand, Laurie J. Bassi, Daniel P. Mcmurrer

Upjohn Press

This study reports on employers' practices and decision-making procedures with regards to workplace education and training for low-wage workers.

The Economics Of Work And Family, Jean Kimmel Editor, Emily P. Hoffman Editor

Upjohn Press

Using an economic perspective, the contributors confront work/family issues including child care (potentially the biggest obstacle to parents successfully integrating work and family priorities), how parents balance time between work and family obligations, links between women's childbearing and their economic outcomes, the success of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the relationship between family structure and labor market outcomes. They also argue for specific policies designed to alleviate the stresses related to these issues.

Teacher Pay And Teacher Quality, Dale Ballou, Michael John Podgursky

Upjohn Press

Ballou and Podgursky offer solid economic analysis on issues surrounding the debate over whether increasing salaries for teachers leads to a more qualified teaching workforce. The authors find little evidence to support the link between increased salaries and teacher quality, then address two questions: (1) What went wrong? and (2) Which reforms are likely to meet with increased success?

Of Heart And Mind: Social Policy Essays In Honor Of Sar A. Levitan, Garth L. Mangum Editor, Stephen L. Mangum Editor

Upjohn Press

The essays in this volume, authored by close friends, associates and students of Sar Levitan, pay tribute to the enduring mark he left on the field of social policy. The book is loosely organized around the method of analysis taught and practiced by Levitan: identifying problems through the examination of facts, developing a thorough understanding of institutions, assessing institutional policies, and evaluating policy options.

Human Capital And Economic Development, Sisay Asefa Editor, Wei-Chiao Huang Editor

Upjohn Press

Six essays are presented that explore human capital and its relationship to issues such as demographics, population growth, families, workplace training and economic progress.

Classrooms In The Workplace: Workplace Literacy Programs In Small- And Medium-Sized Firms, Kevin M. Hollenbeck

Upjohn Press

Hollenbeck, using a combined qualitative/quantitative approach, estimates the linkage between workplace literacy programs and the reason for their existence - increased productivity requirements. He utilizes in-depth case studies as well as a large database to look at the costs and benefits of such programs, also the determining factors for why firms choose to implement literacy programs.

Job Accessibility And The Employment And School Enrollment Of Teenagers, Keith R. Ihlanfeldt

Upjohn Press

Ihlanfeldt presents data that strongly support the "spatial mismatch hypothesis" for the high unemployment rate of disadvantaged teens. This theory, which the author thoroughly outlines in this work, asserts that the suburbanization of low-skill jobs and continued housing market segregation have reduced the job opportunities of inner-city dwelling minorities. This book extends Ihlanfeldt's earlier work on spatial mismatch by incorporating school enrollment decisions and other urban factors into his analysis. Thus, he also demonstrates empirically that job access is related to the high school dropout problem and concludes that poor access to jobs is useful in explaining the relatively low …

Youth And The Labor Market: Analyses Of The National Longitudinal Survey, Michael E. Borus Editor

Upjohn Press

Seven papers probe youth's relationship with the labor market.