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New from the Center for Labor Market Studies
The Historically Low Summer and Year Round 2008 Teen Employment Rate: The Case for An Immediate National Public Policy Response to Create Jobs for the Nation’s Youth
By Andrew Sum, Ishwar Khatiwada, Joseph McLaughlin, and Sheila Palma
Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies released a report this September describing the weakening job market’s impact on youth employment. The report highlights the estimates of the actual national teen employment rates for 16-19 year olds during the months of June, July, and August 2008. It found a 32.7% teen employment rate this summer, a new 60 year historical low. It also provides tables and charts on summer teen employment rates across gender, race, and household income groups. For instance, the report found that the summer employment rates of Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites fell by 24-28 percent over the past 8 years. The report calls for Congress to act given its findings through recommendations, such as the creation of unsubsidized and subsidized jobs for youth in private, profit, and non-profit sectors with support and follow up services.
Please visit the following link to view the report:
http://usmayors.org/workforce/documents/CLMS-Low_Summer_2008_Teen_Employment_Rate.pdf
New from the American Youth Policy Forum
Supporting High Quality Career and Technical Education through Federal and State Policy
By Betsy Brand
Developed by the American Youth Policy Forum, this paper presents recommendations on improving high school reform, for both in and out of school youth, by aligning and coordinating the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to create a systemic approach for better use of federal resources to create multiple learning options through increased flexibility in program design and service delivery. It includes recommendations for some of the following: perception of career and technical education, training and professional development, quality of career and technical education programs, evaluation of student participation in career and technical education.
Please visit the following link to view the paper: http://usmayors.org/workforce/documents/10-10-08CTEMeetingPaper.pdf
New from MDRC
Relationships, Rigor, and Readiness
Strategies for Improving High Schools
By Janet Quint, Saskia Levy Thompson, and Margaret Bald with Julia Bernstein and Laura Sztejnberg
This report offers lessons from the last in a series of three high school reform conferences sponsored by MDRC, the Council of the Great City Schools, and the National High School Alliance. This conference in June 2007 brought together leaders from 22 midsize school districts to describe their reform initiatives and to discuss ways in which research and evaluation can inform and complement school change.
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/498/preface.html
Poverty and Philanthropy: Strategies for Change
By Gordon Berlin
This paper, by MDRC President Gordon Berlin, traces the economic and social trends that help explain the persistence of poverty, describes some of the unintended consequences of public policies that have exacerbated the challenges facing poor families, and discusses four overarching strategies to address one of the most powerful contributors to poverty: stagnant wages for low-income workers, particularly among men, young men, and men of color.
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/497/overview.html
New from W.E. Upjohn Institute
Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States
Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United State, the book edited by Dean Jolliffe, U.S. Department of Agriculture and James P. Ziliak, University of Kentucky, begins with an examination of the patterns of income volatility among various demographic groups and whether volatility affects families’ consumption patterns or whether they are able to smooth consumption over time despite income changes. The book then focuses on how income volatility influences the way people participate in the most-used food assistance programs and the way policymakers design them. It also highlights the important implications income volatility has for baby boomers (who, as they age, will be more likely to take advantage of food assistance programs); low-income families (especially those headed by a single parent); and learning, mental-health, or physical difficulties. For more information, contact Richard Wyrwa at 269-343-5541 or wyrwa@upjohninstitute.org.
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