Youth Employment In American Industry

The persistent high level of unemployment among young people has become an issue of national concern. This study examines nationwide attitudes, practices, and policies of private employers toward hiring youth. A survey was conducted in 1981-82 among a random cross-sample of 535 private employers taken from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Employer Information Report list (EEO-1). The major findings and recommendations were as follows: (1) strategies are needed to facilitate young workers' moving into long-term, higher-paying occupations; (2) private industry should adopt more flexible guidelines to increase teenagers' securing full-time, entry-level positions; (3) advancement opportunities for young workers must increase, especially in service firms and medium-sized and large businesses; (4) most employers surveyed believe that young people perform as well as adults in most areas; (5) the number of private industry-initiated job programs for minority youth should increase; (6) employers need to be made more aware of government programs designed to increase employment opportunities for youth; (7) studies should be done to find out why nearly half of the employers surveyed do not think that a subminimum wage differential will increase young people's job opportunities; (8) employers' willingness to hire minority youths is based on their commitment to helping disadvantaged young people more than on the level of wage subsidy offered; (9) and teaching basic skills in school and skills training on the job must be emphasized to increase youth employability. A description of the EEO-1 list, the sampling plan, the questionnaire, 17 tables, and a 37-item bibliography are appended. (CJS)

In North-American and European cities, youth live in precarious social and economic conditions. The issue of employment has become a political problem. In this volume, sociological, economical and ethnographical perspectives are used to explain ethnic discrimination, inequalities at school, unemployment and marginalization. Work remains a central value in young peoples' lives who not only are victimized but also try to find escapes. Originally in French, this extended and updated book contains contributions by Enrico Pugliese, Saskia Sassen, Min Zhou, Frangois Dubet, Paul Anisef, Paul Axelrod, Ida Susser and others.

In Massachusetts, a 12-year-old girl delivering newspapers is killed when a car strikes her bicycle. In Los Angeles, a 14-year-old boy repeatedly falls asleep in class, exhausted from his evening job. Although children and adolescents may benefit from working, there may also be negative social effects and sometimes danger in their jobs. Protecting Youth at Work looks at what is known about work done by children and adolescents and the effects of that work on their physical and emotional health and social functioning. The committee recommends specific initiatives for legislators, regulators, researchers, and employers. This book provides historical perspective on working children and adolescents in America and explores the framework of child labor laws that govern that work. The committee presents a wide range of data and analysis on the scope of youth employment, factors that put children and adolescents at risk in the workplace, and the positive and negative effects of employment, including data on educational attainment and lifestyle choices. Protecting Youth at Work also includes discussions of special issues for minority and disadvantaged youth, young workers in agriculture, and children who work in family-owned businesses.

The economic status of young people has declined significantly over the past two decades, despite a variety of programs designed to aid new workers in the transition from the classroom to the job market. This ongoing problem has proved difficult to explain. Drawing on comparative data from Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, these papers go beyond examining only employment and wages and explore the effects of family background, education and training, social expectations, and crime on youth employment. This volume brings together key studies, providing detailed analyses of the difficult economic situation plaguing young workers. Why have demographic changes and additional schooling failed to resolve youth unemployment? How effective have those economic policies been which aimed to improve the labor skills and marketability of young people? And how have youths themselves responded to the deteriorating job market confronting them? These questions form the empirical and organizational bases upon which these studies are founded.

A study prepared by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)

'. . . the volume is successful in reaching an always difficult equilibrium between scientific soundness, on the one hand, and fluency, on the other hand. . . the book is a highly enjoyable and engaging read also for a general audience interested in understanding the new dimensions of what has become a persistent affliction of many households in advanced economies.' - Education Economics

"The series is sponsored by the Agence Francaise de Developpement and the World Bank."