Economics
Labor Sector Affairs Archive
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT IN AFRICA BRINGS UNCERTAINTY AND OPPORTUNITY.
[Population Reference Bureau]. February 2009.
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From the recent riots in Greece to increased unemployment in urban China to anxiety over the prospect of more protests by young people throughout Europe, youth unemployment and underemployment is increasingly recognized as a potential trigger for social instability in other world regions. Africa in particular faces demographic challenges as its population of young people ages 15 to 24 increases and access to secure jobs continues to be problematic. In addition, the global financial crisis threatens to further strain labor markets and exacerbate a tenuous situation for Africa’s youth.
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THE SKILL COMPOSITION OF MIGRATION AND THE GENEROSITY OF THE WELFARE STATE.
National Bureau of Economic Research. Alon Cohen et al. February 2009.
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Skilled migrants typically contribute to the welfare state more than they draw in benefits from it. The opposite holds for unskilled migrants. It suggests that a host country is likely to boost, respectively, curtail, its welfare system when absorbing high-skill, respectively, low-skill, migration. The paper examines this hypothesis in a politico-economic setup.
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PROTECTING WORKERS ON THE JOB: SEVEN PRIORITIES FOR FEDERAL ACTION IN 2009.
American Public Health Association. Robert Harrison and Celeste Monforton. Web posted February 1, 2009.
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Advocates for worker health and safety provides recommendations for reversing the erosion of protections for the nation’s workers. Citing lagging federal enforcement of existing standards and inaction on passing tougher new standards, the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Occupational Health and Safety Section and the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health called for immediate action to minimize work-related injuries and illnesses that can cause serious health problems.
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GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS JANUARY 2009.
International Labour Organization. Web posted January 28, 2009.
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The global economic crisis is expected to lead to a dramatic increase in the number of people joining the ranks of the unemployed, working poor and those in vulnerable employment, according to the report. Based on new developments in the labor market and depending on the timeliness and effectiveness of recovery efforts, the report says global unemployment in 2009 could increase over 2007 by a range of 18 million to 30 million workers, and more than 50 million if the situation continues to deteriorate.
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OBAMA’S JOB CREATION PROMISE: A MODEST PROPOSAL TO GUARANTEE THAT HE MEETS AND EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS.
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. Pavlina R. Tcherneva. January 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 7 pages]
Job creation is once again at the forefront of policy action, and for advocates of pro-employment policies, President Obama’s Keynesian bent is a most welcome change. However, there are concerns that Obama’s plan simply does not go far enough, and that a large-scale public investment program may face shortages of skilled labor, put upward pressure on wages, and leave women and minorities behind. Both concerns can be addressed by a simple amendment to the Obama plan that will bring important additional benefits, suggest the report.
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RECESSIONS AND OLDER WORKERS.
Center for Retirement Research, Boston College. Alicia H. Munnell et al. January 2009.
Full Text [PDF format, 11 pages]
With the economy in recession, questions arise about how older workers are faring and how their fate relative to younger workers compares to the past. On the one hand, labor force participation among older workers has been rising since the early 1990s, a reversal of the long-standing trend toward ever-earlier retirement. On the other hand, the edge that older workers used to have relative to younger workers when it comes to layoffs seems to have disappeared, so the rise in the unemployment rate for older workers in recessions now looks similar to that for younger workers.
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INTERNATIONAL LABOR MIGRATION: A RESPONSIBLE ROLE FOR BUSINESS.
Business for Social Responsibility. Web posted December 20, 2008.
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With more than 90 million people around the world migrating for work every year, labor migrants are often subject to human rights violations such as unsafe work conditions, unfair wages, and cramped and unhygienic living situations. And because these migrant workers often lack knowledge about local resources and legal processes, they don’t usually seek help. Current regulations in emerging economies fail to provide adequate protection for foreign contract workers. As a result, migrant workers have become akin to other sourced commodities, with cost considerations often overshadowing rights protections.
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DYNAMIC GLOBALIZATIONS AND ITS POTENTIALLY ALARMING PROSPECTS FOR LOW-WAGE WORKERS.
National Bureau of Economic Research. Hans Fehr et al. December 2008.
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According to the authors, incomes of low and high skilled workers continue to diverge as shown by dynamic, six-good, five-region, U.S., Europe, N.E. Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong), China, and India, general equilibrium, life-cycle model. The model predicts a near doubling of the ratio of high- to low-skilled wages over the century. Increasing wage inequality arises from a traditional source, a rising worldwide relative supply of unskilled labor, reflecting Chinese and Indian productivity improvements.
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WAGES IN THE NONPROFIT SECTOR: MANAGEMENT, PROFESSIONAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT OCCUPATIONS.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Amy Butler. Web posted November 5, 2008.
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The National Compensation Survey now publishes wage data on full-time workers in private nonprofit establishments. The data compares the average hourly earnings of full-time workers in private nonprofits, private industry as a whole, State governments, and local governments.
WORLD OF WORK REPORT 2008.
International Labour Organization. November 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 178 pages]
Despite strong economic growth that produced millions of new jobs since the early 1990s, income inequality grew dramatically in most regions of the world and is expected to increase due to the current global financial crisis, according to the new study. It notes that a major share of the cost of the financial and economic crisis will be borne by hundreds of millions of people who haven’t shared in the benefits of recent growth.
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JOB-RELATED TRAINING AND BENEFITS FOR INDIVIDUALS: A REVIEW OF EVIDENCE AND EXPLANATIONS.
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation Development. Bo Hansson. Web posted September 16, 2008.
Full Text [PDF format, 48 pages]
The paper reviews the literature on job-related training and the effects of these investments for different groups of individuals. It elaborates on the theories, empirical explanations, and policy implications that can be drawn from these findings. Employer-provided training is by far the most important source of further education and training after an individual enters the labor market. The analysis of the distribution of returns to training reveals that although individuals benefit from these investments, the employer reaps most of the returns to training which suggests that the productivity effects are substantially larger than wage effects.
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BEST-PERFORMING CITIES 2008: WHERE AMERICA’S JOBS ARE CREATED AND SUSTAINED.
Milken Institute. Ross DeVol et al. September 2008.
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Provo, Utah, with its high-tech status, is placed on the top and is joined by other growing technology-based and global trade centers in Utah, Texas, Washington, Alabama and the Carolinas. The rebounding technology sector boosted several newcomers to the top 10 in the annual ranking of where America’s jobs are being created and sustained, and metros that are highly dependent on export-intensive industries also showed success. Several past leading cities fell due to the national decline in housing and construction markets, and metros that remain concentrated in manufacturing continue lag in the rankings.
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GREEN RECOVERY: A PROGRAM TO CREATE GOOD JOBS AND START BUILDING A LOW-CARBON ECONOMY.
Center for American Progress. Web posted September 12, 2008.
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As America confronts the current energy crisis, the report shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs by investing in clean energy technologies that will strengthen the economy and fight global warming. It finds that investing in clean energy would create four times as many jobs as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry. The program could be paid for with proceeds from auctions of carbon permits under a global warming cap-and-trade program that will drive private investments into clean energy and raise public revenue through carbon permit auctions.
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AMERICA’S DYNAMIC WORKFORCE: 2008.
U.S. Department of Labor. Web posted September 9, 2008.
The report presents an overview of current conditions and notable trends affecting the American labor market and economic activity.
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Primary emphasis is on measures of labor market performance, employment, labor force participation, unemployment, and compensation. General measures of economic performance such as gross domestic product (GDP) and productivity growth are also described as they relate to labor market conditions and trends.
MEASURING LABOUR MARKETS IN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES: 2008 REPORT.
Fraser Institute. Keith Godin et al. Web posted August 31, 2008.
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The research paper assesses the performance of labor markets and explains why results differ among jurisdictions. The paper provides a series of specific evaluations as well as a comprehensive measure of labor market performance. Indicators of labor performance such as job creation, unemployment, and productivity are used to assess Canadian provincial and US state labor market performance. It also examines those characteristics and regulations of the labor market that have been shown to affect its performance.
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THE ANXIOUS AMERICAN WORKER.
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University. Krista Jenkins et al. Web posted August 27, 2008.
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The report presents the latest snapshots of the American worker. It is framed by overall disquiet about the economy, depicting anxious workers trying to adjust to change in their current jobs and to uncertainty about their future work life. The survey finds a widely shared belief among U.S. workers that they need additional education or training to remain successful, and that they are underpaid for what they do. The responses also reflect an inability or unwillingness to adequately prepare for retirement. Overall job satisfaction remains high, with 91% reporting that they are satisfied with their job, with 40% of workers very satisfied with opportunities for job training and education. However, there is a great deal of anxiety in the workforce as the general election of 2008 comes closer.
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FOREIGN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRESENCE IN U.S. INSTITUTIONS AND THE LABOR FORCE.
Congressional Research Service, 97-746, Library of Congress. Christine M. Matthews. Web posted August 14, 2008.
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Foreign scientists and engineers serve the needs of industry at the doctorate level and also have been found to serve in major roles at the masters level in the United States. However, there are charges that U.S. workers are adversely affected by the entry of foreign scientists and engineers, who reportedly accept lower wages than U.S. citizens. Many in the scientific community maintain that in order to compete with countries that are rapidly expanding their scientific and technological capabilities, the country needs to bring to the U.S. those whose skills will benefit society and will enable us to compete in the new-technology based global economy. There are those who believe that the underlying problem of foreign students in graduate science and engineering programs is not necessarily that there are too many foreign-born students, but that there are not enough native-born students pursuing scientific and technical disciplines.
EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.
Congressional Research Service, RS22915, Library of Congress. Julie M. Whittaker. Web posted July 21, 2008.
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The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program was created by P.L. 110-252. The new temporary unemployment insurance program provides up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to certain workers who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. The program effectively begins July 6, 2008, and will terminate on March 28, 2009. No EUC benefit will be paid beyond the week ending July 4, 2009.
THE UNPAID CARE WORK-PAID WORK CONNECTION.
Levy Economic Institute, Bard College. Rania Anonopoulos. Web posted August 6, 2008.
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The gender-based wage differentials and occupational segregation continue to characterize the division of labor among men and women in paid work. However, unpaid work in social reproduction, subsistence production, family businesses, and the community is often ignored. Beyond the obvious gender inequalities, unpaid work constitutes an integral part of any functioning economy, and as such is linked to economic growth, government policy, migration, and many development issues. The paper concludes that gender equality must be understood through the paid–unpaid work continuum.
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AA08282
Sass, Steven OVERTIME (Boston College Magazine, vol. 68, no. 3, Summer 2008, pp. 40-46, 48)
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The author, associate director for research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, writes that job holders in the soon-to-retire Baby Boom generation, those born between 1946 and 1962, will have to work longer than their parents did. In the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of Medicare and the expansion of Social Security and employer-defined pension plans created the Golden Age of retirement. These programs let the World War II generation exit the labor force at a historically young age with enough income to maintain its standard of living. With cutbacks in Social Security and the general disappearance of traditional pensions, that option is gone. To enjoy a reasonably comfortable old age, the Baby Boom generation has little choice but to stay in the labor force longer. The picture is further complicated by a new instability in employment for older workers, and much more frequent job changes. The entry of China, India and the former Soviet Union into the world economic system has doubled the size of the labor force potentially available to U.S. employers over the last 10 to 15 years.
WILL EMPLOYERS WANT AGING BOOMERS?
Urban Institute. Gordon B.T. Mermin et al. July 2008.
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Boomers will probably want to work longer than earlier cohorts, but their continued work requires that employers hire and retain them. Employers value older workers for their maturity, experience and work ethic, but worry about out of date skills and high costs. Slower overall labor supply growth will increase demand for older workers and occupations with higher shares of older workers will increase modestly as a share of all jobs. Future jobs will require less physical demands and more cognitive and interpersonal skills, trends that favor educated older workers, but job opportunities for less educated older workers may remain limited.
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PROFILE OF HIRED FARMWORKERS, A 2008 UPDATE.
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. William Kandel. July 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 65 pages]
Hired farm workers make up a third of the total agricultural labor force and are critical to U.S. agricultural production, particularly in labor-intensive sectors such as fruits and vegetables. The hired farm worker labor market is unique because it includes a large population of relatively disadvantaged and often unauthorized workers. Recent economic and demographic trends, such as changing agricultural production methods that permit year-round employment, expanding immigrant populations in non metropolitan counties, and growing concerns over U.S. immigration policies, have elicited increased interest in hired farm workers.
NUMBER OF JOBS HELD, LABOR MARKET ACTIVITY, AND EARNINGS GROWTH AMONG THE YOUNGEST BABY BOOMERS: RESULTS FROM A LONGITUDINAL SURVEY.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor. Web posted June 30, 2008.
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The average person born in the later years of the baby boom held 10.8 jobs from age 18 to age 42, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Nearly two-thirds of these jobs were held from ages 18 to 27. The participants in the study were born in the years 1957 to 1964, the later years of the “baby boom” that occurred in the United States from 1946 to 1964. The survey spans more than a quarter century and provides information on work and non work experiences, training, schooling, income and assets, health conditions, and other characteristics.
INCREASING ANNUITIZATION IN 401(k) PLANS WITH AUTOMATIC TRIAL INCOME.
Brookings Institution. William G. Gale et al. June 2008.
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The paper proposes a policy that would increase the role of lifetime income products in future retirees’ overall retirement planning. Over the next few decades, a substantial number of workers will retire with larger balances in their retirement accounts and have fewer sources of longevity protection than retirees today. Therefore, the resources must be managed to ensure that they last throughout their retirement. Lifetime income products would be beneficial for many because payments are made for life and they mitigate the risk of running out of resources late in life. Despite the benefits of lifetime income, current retirees do not use lifetime income products very much and future retirees are unlikely to do so under current arrangements.
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ARE PEOPLE CLAIMING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS LATER?
Center for Retirement Research, Boston College. Dan Muldon and Richard W. Kopcke. June 2008.
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The retirement income system, comprising Social Security and employer-sponsored pension plans, is contracting. To compensate, people need to work longer to ensure an adequate income over many years throughout retirement. A few additional years in the labor force can make a big difference. Working longer directly increases current income; it avoids the actuarial reduction in Social Security benefits; it allows people to contribute more to their 401(k) plans; and it shortens the period of retirement. People have begun to respond. The long-term trend toward earlier retirement ages came to a halt in the mid-1980s, and labor force participation rates at older ages began to increase in the mid-1990s.
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WRITER’S STRIKE OF 2007-2008: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION.
Milken Institute. Kevin Klowden and Anusuya Chatterjee. Web posted June 8, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 38 pages]
The entertainment industry is still recovering from the effects of the work stoppage and digesting the implications of the new labor agreement. Revenue sharing from digital media was at the heart of the dispute and production was shut down on numerous films and many of television’s most popular shows. The writers’ strike has also had significant and lingering effects on television viewers, causing a decline in revenues for the broadcast networks. The report reviews the overall effects of the writers’ strike on California’s economy and the underlying causes of the dispute, examining in particular how the growing market for new media has changed the dynamics of the entertainment industry.
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WHY NOT A “SUPER SIMPLE” SAVING PLAN FOR THE UNITED STATES? Urban Institute.
Pamela Perun and C. Eugene Steuerle. Web posted June 8, 2008.
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The paper suggests that it is possible to create a “Super Simple” saving plan that would provide a basic, low-cost, easily administrable plan with the potential to increase significantly the retirement assets available to moderate- and middle-income individuals. The basic features of the Super Simple plan resemble the U.K. reform plan, but within a U.S. context. The Super Simple plan would create: solid minimum levels of employer contributions for low- and moderate-income workers, include automatic contribution features for employees who do not formally opt out, remove many of the complex discrimination rules surrounding retirement plans, create a significant government match for savers to replace the largely symbolic match now in existence for only a few taxpayers, and streamline multiple 401(k)-type plans through a simple plan design attractive to employers and employees alike.
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MEASURING TRENDS IN INCOME VARIABILITY.
Urban Institute. Austin Nichols and Seth Zimmerman. Web posted June 8, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 60 pages]
Although there were no clear pattern in the volatility of individual earnings or income, family earnings and family income exhibit a pattern of increasing volatility over time. The family income exhibits an upward trend in measured volatility of about 1.5 percent per year. No trend is found in volatility of individual earnings or income, which is explained by an increasing trend in the covariance of income within a family over time.
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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: AMERICAN JOBS AND THE RISE OF SERVICE OUTSOURCING TO CHINA AND INDIA.
National Bureau of Economic Research. Runjuan Liu and Daniel Trefler. June 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 64 pages]
The study examines the impact on U.S. labor markets of offshore outsourcing in services to China and India. It also considers the reverse flow or 'in shoring' which is the sale of services produced in the United States to unaffiliated buyers in China and India. The impacts on occupation and industry switching, weeks spent unemployed as a share of weeks in the labor force, and earnings are analyzed. The results indicate that there are small positive effects of in shoring and smaller negative effects of offshore outsourcing.
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AN ANALYSIS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT DATA.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Web posted May 15, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 14 pages]
This paper discusses Federal retirement statistics in order to gain a better understanding of the future makeup of the Federal workforce. A significant number of employees are eligible or will become eligible to retire in the near future, making a deeper analysis of the retirement of Federal civilians more timely and meaningful. The findings will provide valuable insight into workforce planning as the workforce ages and the needs of the Federal Government continue to evolve.
EMPLOYER HEALTH COSTS IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY: A COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGE FOR U.S. FIRMS.
New America Foundation. Len M. Nichols and Sarah Axeen. May 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 15 pages]
Most Americans get health insurance through their employers. Business leaders are increasingly united in their belief that rising health care costs threaten America’s competitiveness in the global economy, and business support for comprehensive health reform has been growing as a result. However, economists generally believe that it is workers, rather than employers, who pay for health care through lower wages. A new model for health care that includes appropriate subsidies for those who need them and is individual, rather than employer-based, would enable us to finance our 21st-century health system in a more sustainable and competitive way.
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THE SITUATION OF WORKERS OF THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES.
International Labour Office, United Nations. Web posted May 25, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 49 pages]
The annual report of the International Labour Office (ILO) on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories depicts a much degraded employment and labor situation showing that the plight of the Palestinian people has deteriorated alarmingly in a number of respects. Only one person of working age in three, age 15 years and above, living in the occupied Arab territories was employed for all or part of the time, with unemployment hovering above 20 per cent. Over 80 per cent of the population in Gaza is now dependent on food aid as a result of the severe economic siege imposing a closing of all crossings save essential humanitarian supplies. The incidence of extreme poverty was 40 per cent of the population in Gaza and 19 per cent in the West Bank in November 2007. This shows some improvement compared to November 2006 levels though remains alarmingly high. According to the report, the reduction was mostly due to the resumption of wage payments to civil servants by the Palestinian Authority who regained the financial support of the international community.
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MIND THE GAP -- WOMEN'S AND MEN'S QUALITY OF WORK AND EMPLOYMENT.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Kasia Jurczak and John Hurley. Web posted April 30, 2008.
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Gender mainstreaming is an integral part of the research conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. When labor market participation, working conditions and the resulting labor market outcomes are analyzed, the difference in the situation of women and men is evident. This report highlights the main issues concerning women’s situation in the labor market and indicates where the principal barriers to women’s participation lay.
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NEVER THE SAME AFTER THE FIRST TIME: THE SATISFACTION OF THE SECOND-GENERATION SELF-EMPLOYED.
Institute for the Study of Labor. Andrew Clark et al. Web posted May 4, 2008.
Full Text [pdf format, 26 pages]
The paper contributes to the existing studies which show that the self-employed are generally more satisfied than those employed by others. French data and British data were used to draw conclusions. The self-employed workers are generally more satisfied with working conditions and pay, but less satisfied than other employees with respect to job security. Then the authors considered the differences between the first- and second-generation self-employed. The first-generation self-employed are more satisfied overall than are the second-generation self-employed.
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PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE SHORTAGE IMPERIL NATION'S HEALTH.
Center for Studying Health System Change. Debra A. Draper et al. Web posted April 26, 2008.
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Significant new federal funding flowed to state and local agencies to bolster public health activities and emergency preparedness after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But initial emphasis on shoring up the nation’s public health system has faded. Local health departments face a mounting workforce crisis as they struggle to recruit, train and retain qualified workers to meet their communities’ needs. Local public health agencies have pursued strategies to improve workforce monitoring and planning, recruitment, retention, development and training, and academic linkages. However, little progress has been made to alleviate the shortages. Without additional support to address workforce issues, including the recruitment of the next generation of public health leaders, it is unlikely that local public health agencies will succeed in meeting growing community need.
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CONFRONTING THE TALENT CRUNCH: 2008.
Manpower, Inc. Web posted April 2008.
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There is a global shortage of talent. Even though Eastern Europe has become a key source for manual and skilled trades for employers in Western Europe, Norway recruits trained butchers from Ireland and as far away as Brazil to work in the Nordic state. The needs vary among regions and countries; French employers finding it more difficult to find chefs and cooks, while for U.S. employers, finding engineers becomes a major task. The paper looks at the methods the governments, employers, and individuals take to confront the issue.
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LABOUR MOBILITY IN A TRANSATLANTIC PERSPECTIVE: CONFERENCE REPORT.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Peter Ester and Hubert Krieger. Web posted April 21, 2008.
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The seminar brought together about 60 leading European and American researchers and policymakers in the field of labor mobility, in order to examine transatlantic mobility trends and the social, economic and cultural impacts of geographical and long-distance labor market mobility. It focused on long-distance geographic mobility trends in the US and in Europe. Overall, it concluded that increased but improved mobility is needed and that the mobility concept covers different forms and motives.
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EMPLOYMENT-BASED TAX CREDITS FOR LOW-SKILLED WORKERS.
John Karl Scholz. The Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution. Web posted December 17, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 36 pages]
Low-income families face three major problems addressed in this report: unemployment, incarceration, and children in single-parent households. The author suggests a two-part policy to increase the return to work. The first part expands the earned income tax credit to low-income, childless taxpayers. The second part proposes a wage subsidy for low-wage earners who live in economically depressed areas.
By increasing the return to work for childless low-skilled workers, the unemployment rate will decrease, the incarceration rate will decline, and the marriage rate will increase thereby reducing single-parent households. Based on an empirical literature review, the author estimates that employment would increase by 850,000 jobs; and the crime rate would fall by over one million incidents.
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THE CHARACTERISTICS OF OFFSHORABLE JOBS.
Jared Bernstein, James Lin, and Lawrence Mishel. Economic Policy Institute. November 14, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 12 pages]
Offshoring is the practice of sending work from the U.S. to workers abroad. Computer programming in India or garments once produced domestically but now made abroad are examples of offshoring. This report presents data and findings in spreadsheet format. The findings show that 18 to 22 percent of today’s jobs could be offshored.
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THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY: JOB QUALITY IN THE UNITED STATES OVER THE THREE MOST RECENT BUSINESS CYCLES. John Schmitt. Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). Web posted November 6, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 27 pages]
This report looks at “good jobs” over the last three business cycles that occurred during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. For this report, a good job is defined as one that pays at least $17 per hour and offers employer-provided health benefits. The data for this report come from the March Current Population Survey covering the years 1979 through 2006. This annual review finds that the 2000s business cycle has “consistently under-performed comparable periods during the preceding two cycles. . .”
AA07418
Roberts, David A VAN WITH A PLAN (Grist, March 20, 2007)
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A rising public figure on the national scene, Van Jones is an African-American civil-rights lawyer and founder and director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, California, an innovative non-profit group that made a name for itself in working to prevent youth violence and incarceration. Two years ago, it launched a program that puts it on the front edge of progressive activism: an initiative that would ensure that low-income and minority youth are included in the coming wave of “green-collar” jobs, such as solar-panel and wind-turbine installation, refitting existing houses for energy conservation, wastewater reclamation, and organic gardening. He notes that past periods of economic growth in the U.S., notably the Internet boom, did not include the poor. This time, converting America to a low-carbon economy will involve “a lot of people doing a lot of work”, which cannot be outsourced abroad, and it is imperative that youth from disadvantaged communities be put at the forefront for this effort.
RISING INCOMES CUSHION ECONOMY: FINDING HIGHLY SKILLED WORKERS REMAINS A LONG-TERM CHALLENGE FOR MANUFACTURERS: THE 10TH ANNUAL LABOR DAY REPORT. National Association of Manufacturers. Web posted August 28, 2007.
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The pace of the economic growth and job creation has slowed slightly this past year, but the overall economy and the U.S. worker has remained sound. In the second quarter of 2007, the economy grew 3.4 percent, but the gross domestic product “increased by just 1.8 percent over the past year — a little more than half as fast as the 3.2 percent rise during the previous four quarters and the second-slowest four-quarter performance since early 2003.” The primarily cause of this slowdown has been the decline in the housing market and the increase in energy costs.
Job creation has slowed in the past twelve months, but unemployment is still modest at 4.8 percent. A tight labor market forces firms to compete for available workers; however, wages have not kept up with inflation. The overall inflation rate has been 2.4 percent for the past 12 months; and after adjusting for inflation, the average hourly wage is up 1.6 percent for the past year.
OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING: RANKING THE STATES AND EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES. Adam B. Summers. Policy Study, Reason Foundation. Web posted August 24, 2007.
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“America takes great pride in being the ‘land of opportunity.’” This assumes that with hard work and determination, anyone can make whatever he/she wants. However, more and more occupations are regulated at municipal, state, or federal government levels. This report examines the cost and benefits of licensing and regulating these occupations.
KEY INDICATORS OF THE LABOUR MARKET (KILM). International Labour Organization (ILO). Web posted September 2, 2007.
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According to this report, productivity levels have increased worldwide over the last ten years. The U.S. leads the world in labor productivity per person, and the productivity gap between the U.S. and most other developed economies continues to widen. In South-East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific, productivity levels are seven to eight times less than industrialized countries; in the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, productivity levels are three times less; in Central and South Eastern Europe and CIS countries, levels are 3.5 times less; levels are 4 times less in North Africa; and sub-Saharan Africa workers are one-twelfth as productive as workers in industrial countries.
THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR’S 2006 FINDINGS ON THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR: REPORT REQUIRED BY THE TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2000. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor. Web posted September 4, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 706 pages]
The 2006 report on child labor from the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that the number of working children had dropped by approximately 10 percent since 2002; but, that still means there are millions of children being exploited by abusive employers and suffering maltreatment such as verbal abuse, physical punishment, psychological torture, and sexual harassment. This report provides new and updated information on the nature of child labor, relevant laws, enforcement procedures, programs, and polices that address child labor exploitation in 141 countries and territories.
UNIONS AND UPWARD MOBILITY FOR LOW-WAGE WORKERS. John Schmitt, Margy Waller, Shawn Fremstad, and Ben Zipperer. Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) and Inclusion. Web posted August 27, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 14 pages]
This study examines the impact of unionization on pay and benefits in 15 low-wage occupations. The data suggest that on average, unionization raised workers’ wages over 16 percent compared to non-union workers. The impact on health insurance and pensions was even greater. Union workers were 25 percent more likely to have employer-paid health insurance than non-union low-wage occupations. The findings demonstrate that workers in low-wage occupations who are able to use collective bargaining earn more and are more likely to have benefits.
U.S. LIVING STANDARDS IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION. Sandra Polaski. Policy Brief, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. July 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 8 pages]
Over the past thirty years, U.S. wages have stagnated; the workforce has faced erosion of job security, health care and pension plans; and rapid globalization has occurred. This brief looks at the domestic and international economic changes and the main causes of the “eroding U.S. living standards.” The author maintains that domestic labor laws, the tax system, and international economic policy have to be reformed to create a better economic future for the U.S. workforce.
THE CASE FOR WAGE INSURANCE. Robert J. LaLonde. Council Special Report, Council of Foreign Relations. Web posted June 28, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 52 pages]
An important aspect of U.S. productivity and competitiveness is its flexible labor market--workers shift into jobs where they are most needed. Usually this shift is painless, but occasionally, prime-aged and older workers experience long-term income losses. This report “documents the causes, risks, and consequences of worker displacement. It describes the services currently available to displaced workers, and contends that most of these services do not address the risks faced by prime-aged and older workers.”
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Scheve, Kenneth F.; Slaughter, Matthew J. A NEW DEAL FOR GLOBALIZATION (Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86, No. 4, July-August 2007, pp. 34-48)
Full text [html format]
Scheve, a political scientist at Yale University, and Slaughter, an economist at Dartmouth, assert that surging inequality of income is driving the rise in protectionist sentiment among the 96 percent of U.S. workers who are seeing the real value of their wages fall. The typical political tradeoff for maintaining open trade consists of spending more money for trade adjustment assistance to workers who lose their jobs to imports and for raising more people to a higher level of education. The authors argue that these policies won't work for decades at best. Instead they propose a redistribution of income from the most wealthy, a New Deal for globalization in the model of Roosevelt's 1930s New Deal. Because income tax rates are already progressive, they propose increasing the income of the wealthy subject to taxes for Social Security and Medicare while reducing or eliminating those taxes for those making less money.
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Posha, Jehangir S. ONE SUN IN THE SKY: LABOR UNIONS IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 1, Winter/Spring 2007, pp. 5-11)
Full Text [pdf format, 9 pages]
The author, a Beijing-based journalist for the Boston Globe, quotes an old Chinese proverb which says that there cannot be two suns in the sky, meaning that there can be only one source of power in the land. This idea supports the Chinese Communist Party’s fierce opposition to any leadership or organization in China other than itself. China’s recent economic growth has been supported by five basic principles -– cheap labor, market reforms, disdain for intellectual property rights, disregard for the environment, and cheap capital from state-controlled banks. Market forces and international pressure have greatly reduced all of these except the “cheap and disempowered labor force,” making it the country’s last remaining competitive advantage.
While the government has pressured some companies to pay back-wages, it has not made any meaningful structural improvements to China’s labor laws. This is illustrated by the fact that, according to the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco which tracks political prisoners in China, at least 24 labor activists are currently in prison. The major avenue of help for workers is the ability to sue companies for compensation. The author says that the West has remained largely silent about workers’ rights because Western companies also benefit from the low wages and the fear that trade unions might create political instability and the “global consensus that a gradually reformed China tomorrow is preferable to a politically unstable China today.”
WOMEN AND LOW-SKILLED WORKERS: OTHER COUNTRIES’ POLICIES AND PRACTICES THAT MAY HELP THESE WORKERS ENTER AND REMAIN IN THE LABOR FORCE. U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO). Web posted June 14, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 47 pages]
With increasing retirements and declining fertility rates, many developed countries could find it difficult to maintain the size and productivity of its labor force. As a result, many governments and employers have introduced strategies to keep workers, especially women and low-skilled workers, in the workforce. GAO was asked to describe these policies and practices and to identify factors that affect these workers. This GAO report makes no recommendations.
NATIONAL COMPENSATION SURVEY: OCCUPATIONAL WAGES IN THE UNITED STATES, JUNE 2006. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. June 2007.
Full Text: [pdf format, 26 pages]
“Earnings averaged $19.29 per hour in June 2006 for civilian workers in the United States. Average hourly earnings were lower for private industry workers ($18.56) than for State and local government workers ($23.99).” This survey measures the average hourly earnings for civilian workers (non-farm private industry as well as state and local government workers). The summary includes data for sectors of the economy, worker and establishment characteristics, and detailed occupational earnings for full-time workers.
LABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN. René Cortázar. Economic and Sector Study Series, Regional Operations Department 3, Inter-American Development Bank. June 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 55 pages]
“The objectives of improving competitiveness and reducing unemployment, in particular
among the young and women, are a part of the economic and the political agenda of most
Caribbean countries. Labor market institutions play a crucial role. This study analyzes six types of institutions: (i) labor legislation, related to collective bargaining and termination of contracts; (ii) minimum wages; (iii) vocational training; (iv) industrial relations; (v) social dialogue, and (vi) the role of the Ministry of Labor, and proposes policies that could contribute to employment and competitiveness.”
WORKING TIME AROUND THE WORLD: TRENDS IN WORKING HOURS, LAWS AND POLICIES IN A GLOBAL COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE. Sangheon Lee, Deirdre McCann and Jon C. Messenger. International Labour Organization. June 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 195 pages]
The first international labor standard on working hours was adopted almost 100 years ago. This standard established an 8-hour day and 48-hour week. The standard was changed to a 40-hour week 70 years ago. This report looks at the “historical perspective in the context of global economic integration and the Decent Work Agenda. . .” The findings are mixed. On the one hand, progress has been made in the regulation of maximum working hours in developing and transition countries. However, a substantial number of workers—about 22 percent—are still working more than 48 hours per week and a significant proportion of those are underemployed. The authors conclude with a set of policy suggestions for the International Labour Organization based on five inter-connected criteria for Decent Working Time.
EQUALITY AT WORK: TACKLING THE CHALLENGES: GLOBAL REPORT UNDER THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE ILO DECLARATION ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND RIGHTS AT WORK. International Labour Office. Web posted May 10, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 141 pages]
This is the second Global Report on discrimination under the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. It examines emerging issues on workplace discrimination and inequalities. The report also describes major advances such as progress in ratification of the ILO Conventions, improvements in national legal and institutional arena, and action plans and programs to combat inequalities. The last section identifies challenges and makes recommendations.
SOCIAL SECURITY: THE CHILEAN APPROACH TO RETIREMENT. Christopher Tamborini. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress. May 17, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 33 pages]
For the past several years, the debate about Social Security has been intense. It is projected that the Social Security trust fund will experience deficits by 2017 and be exhausted by 2041.
Chile initiated retirement reforms in 1981. It replaced a state-run, pay-as-you-go with a private, mandatory system. This report focuses on the Chilean system. It provides details on Chile’s individual retirement system, explains how it works, and offers an assessment of its 26-year-old individual retirement accounts system.
NO-VACATION NATION. Rebecca Ray and John Schmitt. Center for Economic and Policy Research. May 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 24 pages]
This report reviewed international vacation and holiday laws. The authors found that the U.S. is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee paid vacation or holidays to its workers. This is particularly true for lower-wage and part-time workers as well as for employees of small businesses. The appendix includes comparative information on leave and holiday laws for countries in Europe, Canada, and Japan.
JOB SATISFACTION IN THE UNITED STATES.
Tom W. Smith. National Opinion Research Center (NORC), University of Chicago. April 17, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 9 pages]
Job satisfaction is an important component in overall well-being both physically and mentally. Since work occupies a large part of each day, it becomes a main source of social standing and helps to define a person.
This paper provides a variation of job satisfaction and well-being across occupations. The most satisfying professions are those involved in caring for others, protecting others, or creative pursuits. Members of the clergy are the most satisfied; healing professionals are second; third are firefighters; and fourth are educational occupations. The least satisfying jobs are in the low-skill, manual, and service occupations especially involving customer service.
DEATH ON THE JOB: THE TOLL OF NEGLECT: A NATIONAL AND STATE-BY-STATE PROFILE OF WORKER SAFETY AND HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES. American Federal of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Web posted April 27, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 154 pages]
This is the 16th year that the AFL-CIO has published this report. This report contains information on the “state of safety and health protections for America’s workers. The report includes state-by-state profiles of workers’ safety and health and features state and national information on workplace fatalities, injuries, illnesses, the number and frequency of workplace inspections, penalties and public-employee coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct). It also includes information on the state of mine safety and health.”
OFFSHORING, OUTSOURCING, AND PRODUCTION RELOCATION: LABOR-MARKET EFFECTS IN THE OECD COUNTRIES AND DEVELOPING ASIA.
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard. Working Paper Series, Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics. Web posted April 24, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 51 pages]
“This working paper evaluates the validity of available data on and the extent of the impact of offshoring on service-sector labor markets in the United States, EU-15, and Japan.” The impact of offshoring in the three regions appears to be limited. Additionally, Asia is not likely to experience a significant increase in employment as a destination region.
IMMIGRATION OF FOREIGN WORKERS: LABOR MARKET TESTS AND PROTECTIONS.
Ruth Ellen Wasem. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress. April 24, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 24 pages]
Many businesses are concerned that there is a scarcity of labor in certain sectors that might curtail economic growth. The demand for more skilled and highly-trained foreign workers has gotten much attention in recent years, but there has also been a demand for unskilled, temporary foreign workers. Those opposing increases in foreign workers assert that there is no evidence of a labor shortage.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) “bars the admission of any alien who seeks to enter the U.S. to perform skilled or unskilled labor, unless” there is not sufficient qualified U.S. workers and if the employment of the foreign worker does not adversely affect wages or working conditions. The President has proposed a comprehensive immigration reform that includes a major overhaul of temporary worker visas, expands permanent legal immigration, and revises the process of determining whether foreign workers are needed.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS AND PROSPECTS: 2007: JOB CREATION IN AN ERA OF HIGH GROWTH.
Carlos Silva-Jauregui, Elliot Riordan, Sara Johansson de Silva, Jennifer Keller, and Paloma Anos Casero. Middle East and North Africa Region, The World Bank. Web posted April 14, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 216 pages]
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has performed extremely well on an economic level in spite of the Iraqi conflict and growing sectarian violence. The economy has largely been driven by high oil prices.
This third annual volume on the MENA region focuses on the labor market. The purpose of the report is to deepen “the understanding of the region’s development progress, prospects, and challenges.”
BEHIND THE PAY GAP.
Judy Goldberg Dey and Catherine Hill. American Association of University Women Education Foundation. Web posted April 23, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 67 pages]
This study examines the gender pay gap for college graduates. The study found that women one year after college graduation earn only 80 percent as much as men. Ten years after graduation, women fall farther behind. The study took several variables into consideration and found that “despite the progress women have made, gender pay equity in the workplace remains an issue.” The authors suggest that improvements to federal equal pay laws are needed to ensure that women and men are treated fairly when they perform the same or comparable work.
THE PRODUCTIVITY TO PAYCHECK GAP: WHAT THE DATA SHOW.
Dean Baker. Center for Economic and Policy Research. April 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 15 pages]
This report makes a series of adjustments to the most common measure of U.S. productivity growth--the non-farm business sector. It also measures wage growth to determine the extent to which lagging wages can be blamed on weak productivity growth verses income redistribution.
Between 1973 and 2006, weak wage growth has generally been attributed to a redistribution of income from typical workers to higher paid workers. However, the report shows that, along with a redistribution of income, lagging wage growth has been caused by slow productivity growth.
UNDERSTANDING LOW-WAGE WORK IN THE UNITED STATES.
Heather Boushey, Shawn Fremstad, Rachel Gragg, and Margy Waller. The Mobility Agenda and the Center for Economic Policy and Research. Web posted March 15, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 24 pages]
Over 40 million jobs in the U.S. (about 1 in 3) pay low wages—defined as $11.11 per hour or less. Most of these jobs do not offer employment benefits such as health insurance, retirement accounts, and paid sick days or family leave. This report analyzes labor market data to provide a better picture of the low-wage labor market. The report also examines whether an opportunity exists for these workers to move out of the low-wage market into better-paying jobs.
EMPLOYMENT GENERATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN STABILIZATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS.
Johanna Mendelson-Forman and Merriam Mashatt. Stabilization and Reconstruction Series, U.S. Institute of Peace. Web posted March 30, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 24 pages]
The Employment Generation and Economic Development Working Group of the U.S. Institute of Peace “addressed job creation during the immediate transitional period when a society is emerging from conflict but has not yet achieved stability.” This report focused on a “golden hour” which is defined as a “window of opportunity” for employment generation and whether conditions were ripe during this time for private sector participation.
Using this “golden hour” theory, the authors submit several recommendations based on the assumption that the U.S. is a leading player in the reconstruction effort.
GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS FOR WOMEN: BRIEF, MARCH 2007.
International Labour Office. Web posted March 8, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 20 pages]
Women’s participation in the labor market increased significantly during the 1980s and 1990s. This report focused on that trend and whether the trend translated into decent and productive jobs for economic independence. The brief looked at labor market indicators such as labor force participation, unemployment, sector and status employment, wages/earnings, and education and skills. Some of the major findings are:
- More women are in the labor markets;
- The labor force participation rate (the share of working-age women who work or who are seeking work) stopped growing;
- More women are unemployed;
- Women are likely to be in low productivity jobs in agriculture or service;
- In poor regions, women work as unpaid family members; and Wage gaps still persist.
This report indicates that the “policies to enhance women’s chances to participate equally in labour markets are starting to pay off,” but the pace is very slow.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF SERVICE OFFSHORING FOR METROPOLITAN ECONOMIES.
Robert Atkinson and Howard Wial. Metro Economy Series, The Brookings Institution. February 2007
Full Text [pdf format, 28 pages]
This study projects the likely job losses from service offshoring--the movement of service jobs from the U.S. to other countries. The findings are:
- Twenty-eight metropolitan areas with 13.5 percent of the nation’s population are likely to lose between 2.6 and 4.3 percent of their jobs;
- Large metropolitan areas in the Northeast and West are more vulnerable;
- Metropolitan areas with large concentrations of information technology jobs or back-office jobs are at risk; and
- Seventeen percent of computer programming, software engineering, and data entry jobs will likely be moved offshore.
The loss of these service jobs in the near future will be modest; but the impact of offshoring will be greater in metropolitan areas with high levels of information technology jobs. To reduce the effects of offshoring, federal, state, and local leaders should pursue policies that boost productivity and assist workers.
Global Employment Trends, Brief 2007.
[International Labour Organization]. January 25, 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 12 pages]
Strong global gross domestic product (GDP) led to a worldwide stabilization of labor markets, but unemployment was slightly higher in 2006 than 2005. In other words, a robust economic growth has not translated into significant reductions in unemployment or poverty. This pattern is likely to continue through 2007. “To make long-term inroads into unemployment and working poverty, it is essential that periods of high growth be better used to generate more decent and productive jobs.”
A CHARTBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR COMPARISONS: THE AMERICAS—ASIA-PACIFIC—EUROPE.
Marie-Claire Guillard. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. January 2007.
Full Text [pdf format, 67 pages]
This Chartbook provides a comparative labor market perspective of employment levels, jobless rates, hours worked, labor costs, and productivity trends of all advanced and emerging economies. It is a “snapshot of where the United States stands today in relation to key economies of the rest of the world.” The purpose of the Chartbook is to assist policy and decision makers in preparing the nation’s workforce for future challenges and opportunities.
Archive
ARE SHORTER WORK HOURS GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?: A COMPARISON OF U.S. AND EUROPEAN ENERGY CONSUMPTION.
David Rosnick and Mark Weisbrot. Center for Economic and Policy Research. December 2006.
Full Text [pdf format, 12 pages]
This paper looks at the relationship between work hours and energy consumption comparing the “Old Europe” model to U.S. practices. If “Old Europe” were to adopt U.S.-style economic and labor practices and increase the annual work hours to American levels, they would increase energy consumption by 30 percent.
If developing countries also adopt the American work standards and work as many hours as Americans do, they will consume 15-30 percent more energy than if they adopted the European model.
However, if the U.S. moves toward the European standard with shorter work weeks or longer vacations, the U.S. would reduce energy consumption. For example, if the U.S. had adopted the European standard in 1990, the carbon dioxide emissions would have been 7 percent lower in 2000 or a reduction of approximately 20 percent today.
ASSESSING JOB FLOWS ACROSS COUNTRIES: THE ROLE OF INDUSTRY, FIRM SIZE, AND REGULATIONS.
John Haltiwanger, Stefano Scarpetta, Helena Schweiger.
World Bank Policy Research. Web posted November 18, 2006.
Full text [pdf format, 54 pages]
This paper reviews job creation and destruction across a sample of 16 industrial and emerging economies over the past ten years. This is a technical report with many graphs and statistical tables. “The paper assesses the importance of technological factors that characterize different industries in explaining cross-country differences in job flows. It shows that industry effects play an important role in shaping job flows at the aggregate level. Even more importantly, differences in the size composition of firms—within each industry—explain a large fraction of overall variability in job creation and destruction.”
The paper looked at one factor shaping the business environment--regulations regarding hiring and firing of workers. The results suggest that hiring and firing costs reduce job turnover and regulations distort the patterns of industry/size flows. Medium and large firms within industries are more greatly affected by labor regulations than small firms.
GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS FOR YOUTH 2006.
International Labour Office (ILO). October 30, 2006.
Full report [pdf format, 58 pages]
A principal findings of the report is that a global deficit of decent work opportunities has resulted in a situation in which one out of three youth in the world is either seeking but unable to find work (the unemployed), has given up on the job search entirely (the discouraged) or is working but still living below the US$2 a day poverty line (the working poor). This second version of the Global Employment Trends for Youth updates the key world and regional youth labor market indicators, and contains new original research. One focus is the estimation of the number of youth who work but are living in households of less than US$1 or 2 a day (the youth working poor). The working poor youth serves as a proxy for income-related underemployment and therefore fits nicely within the framework presented in the report for identifying youth who are most at risk to suffering from degrees of exclusion from decent work. These analyses provide a framework for identifying those segments that would benefit most from targeted interventions.
The report presents tables that summarize the most current regional labor market indicators for youth and offer a general assessment of the most pressing issues in each region. "These tables can be used as a starting point for policy makers and international agencies as indication of the true challenges that need to be focused on regarding young people. The variations of indicator results and issues for consideration presented in each regional table are a reminder that it is better to discuss youth labor market trends on the regional level rather than the global level."
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GLOBALIZATION AND JOBS
Martin, John. (OECD Observer, no. 256, July 2006, pp. 10-11)
Full text available from your nearest American Library
Martin, Director of OECD Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, says globalization produces winners and losers. The job threat is real, he acknowledges, but it is manageable as long as the right policies are in place. His recommendations include: practical mechanisms to compensate the "losers", good macroeconomics, flexible labor and product markets, strong employment, and effective lifelong learning/education policies.
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Eberstadt, Nicholas GROWING OLD THE HARD WAY: CHINA, RUSSIA, INDIA
(Policy Review, April-May 2006, pp. 15-40)
View on publisher's website
The author's mixture of economics and demographics paints an unhappy picture for these three large-population countries. Though all three face graying work forces, for each the worst news is different. Russia's population in 2025 "will be grayer than any population yet seen in human history," and will have to work in unprecedented fragile health, as the drop in life expectancy experienced since 1960 figures to continue. China's coercive reproduction control program will result in a relatively smaller working-age population between 2005 and 2025, which will have to support an "exploding" population of those 65 and older. Many areas of India face "rapid population aging on current levels of per capita output that are astonishingly low" by any international or historical benchmark. Moreover, by 2026 a third of Indians 25 years old or older could be illiterate, with no formal schooling.
FOREIGN WORKERS: INFORMATION ON SELECTED COUNTRIES' EXPERIENCES.
United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). September 8, 2006; Web-posted September 15, 2006.
Download [pdf format, 161 pages]
This report examines selected countries' (1) programs for admitting foreign workers; (2) efforts to limit the employment of unauthorized foreign workers; and (3) programs for providing unauthorized immigrants with an opportunity to obtain legal status, referred to as regularization.
To address these objectives, GAO examined reports from foreign countries, intergovernmental organizations, and research organizations. GAO also interviewed government officials and experts from eight countries -- Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom -- and surveyed six other countries. GAO selected these countries based on their net immigration rate, population size, membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or World Bank classification as high income, range of immigration policies, and geographic location.
The countries GAO studied use a variety of efforts in enforcing laws designed to limit the employment of unauthorized foreign workers. In some countries, employers are required to report workers' information to government agencies or to verify workers' authorization status. In these countries, employing unauthorized foreign workers is largely considered one of several illegal labor practices, including failure to pay taxes or social insurance contributions. Government officials and experts have noted that conducting frequent employer investigations and publicizing those investigations, helps deter the hiring of unauthorized foreign workers. Countries can penalize unscrupulous employers who employ unauthorized foreign workers. However, in penalizing employers, countries have faced such difficulties as the prevalence of document fraud.
Some countries have implemented large-scale regularization programs to allow unauthorized immigrants to apply for legal status on either a temporary or a permanent basis. Regularization programs can help reduce the size of the underground economy, facilitate immigrant integration, and increase the collection of tax and social insurance contributions. However, countries have faced difficulties in implementing these programs, such as ensuring the timely review of applications. Moreover, some experts have reported that regularization programs may attract further illegal immigration, while others have concluded their effect on illegal immigration is unclear.
THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S 2005 FINDINGS ON THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR.
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). August 22, 2006.
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The Labor Department's fifth annual report on the worst forms of child labor in 137 countries and territories that receive U.S. trade benefits, is produced under the child labor reporting requirement of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. The act requires trade-beneficiary countries and territories to implement their international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The report presents information on the nature and extent of the problem in each of these 137 countries and territories, and the efforts being made by their governments to eliminate its worst forms.
As defined by International Labor Organization Convention 182, the worst forms of child labor include:
- Any form of slavery, such as forced or indentured child labor
- The trafficking of children and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict
- Child prostitution and pornography
- Using children for illicit activities, such as, the trafficking of drugs
- Work that is likely to harm children's health, safety or morals
AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY SUMMARY 2006.
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). July 27, 2006.
Table of Contents [sections in html format, various pagings]
Text format [28 printed pages]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has long produced statistics about the labor market, such as employment, hours of work, and earnings. To provide a more complete picture of the context of employment, BLS also conducts the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). The ATUS collects data on what activities people do during the day and how much time they spend doing them. This third annual release of ATUS data focuses on the time Americans worked, did household activities, cared for household children, and participated in leisure and sports activities in 2005.
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Achenbaum, W. Andrew WHAT IS RETIREMENT FOR? (Wilson Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 2, Spring 2006, pp. 50-56)
View article on publisher's website
The author reviews the history of aging, retirement and financial security in the United States and puts the retirement of today's Baby Boomer generation in context. People are living and staying healthier longer and are making up an-ever increasing proportion of the population. "Now more than ever," he says, "we need to form a clearer collective conception of what retirement out to be." It is his expectation that the workforce will be more flexible and allow older employees to work part time or on a project-to-project basis. Many Boomers, he predicts, will become volunteers as their parents have done. This article is one of a series of this publication's essays that deal with "The Sovereign State of Retirement," the title of this Spring's edition.
RETIREMENT SAVINGS AND HOUSEHOLD WEALTH: A SUMMARY OF RECENT DATA.
Patrick Purcell. Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Updated May 22, 2006.
Download [pdf format, 21 pages]
Since about 1980, the proportion of workers who participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans has remained stable at about half of the workforce. Over the past 25 years, however, there has been a shift by employers from defined benefit (DB) pensions - which pay a retirement benefit in the form of a lifelong annuity - to defined contribution (DC) plans, which are more like savings accounts maintained by employers on behalf of each participating employee. One of the key distinctions between a defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan is that in a DB plan, it is the employer who bears the investment risk. The employer must ensure that the pension plan has sufficient assets to pay the benefits promised to workers and their surviving dependents. In a DC plan, the worker bears the risk of investment losses. The worker's account balance depends on how much he or she contributes to the plan and how the plan's underlying investments perform.
The fact that 33 million households that included a worker under age 65 had no retirement savings accounts in 2004 indicates that many households are not taking advantage of the tax deferrals available to virtually all workers through IRAs and to many workers through employer-sponsored plans.
The uncertain future of Social Security and the declining prevalence of defined-benefit pensions that provide a guaranteed lifelong income have put much of the responsibility for preparing for retirement directly on workers. According to the report, the low rate of personal saving in the United States and the lack of any retirement savings accounts among millions of American households indicate that there is a need for greater awareness among the public about the importance of setting aside funds to prepare for life after they have stopped working. Most workers in the United States will need to begin saving more of their income if they wish to maintain a standard of living in retirement comparable to that which they enjoyed while working. The alternatives would be to work longer or to greatly reduce their standard of living in retirement.
THE END OF CHILD LABOUR: WITHIN REACH.
International Labour Organization (ILO). May 4, 2006.
Report [pdf format, 100 pages]
Child labor, especially in its worst forms, is in decline for the first time across the globe, according to this cautiously optimistic report from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The new report says the actual number of child laborers worldwide fell by 11 per cent between 2000 and 2004, from 246 million to 218 million. Furthermore, the number of children and youth aged 5-17 trapped in hazardous work decreased by 26 per cent, from 171 million in the 2000 estimate to approximately 126 million in 2004. Among younger child laborers aged 5-14, this drop was even more pronounced at 33 per cent, says the report.
The ILO report attributes the reduction in child labor to increased political will and awareness and concrete action, particularly in the field of poverty reduction and mass education, a combination that has led to a worldwide movement against child labor.
Despite considerable progress in the fight against child labor, the report notes ongoing challenges, particularly in agriculture, where seven out of ten child laborers work. Other challenges include addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on child labor, and building stronger links between child labor and concerns regarding youth unemployment. The authors call for greater national efforts, involving organizations representing employers and workers, as well as governments. They add that meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals by 2015 would further help to eradicate child labor.
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Baily, Martin; Farrell, Diana; Remes, Jaana THE HIDDEN KEY TO GROWTH (The International Economy, vol. 20, no. 1, Winter 2006, pp. 48-55)
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The authors, from the McKinsey Global Institute, say dynamic, competitive local services can unlock a huge contribution to GDP growth and employment. While import substitution, export manufacturing and services for export have all captured policymakers' imaginations, local services are being overlooked, they write. Local services account for more than sixty percent of all jobs in middle-income and developed economies, and virtually all of new job creations, they write. Policymakers who want to leverage the economic power of local services growth need to ensure barriers to competition are removed and service companies are treated equally with manufacturing firms. The authors highlight the positive relationship between the local service sector and employment, and provide recommendations.
THE ROLE OF IMMIGRANTS IN THE U.S. LABOR MARKET.
Nabeel A. Alsalam and Ralph E. Smith. Congressional Budget Office. November 2005.
Download the document [pdf format, 35 pages]
The role of immigrants in the U.S. labor market has long generated substantial interest among policymakers. Lawmakers have considered a broad range of issues concerning foreign-born workers -- from the number of immigrants permitted to enter the United States and the criteria for determining who is admitted, to the rules governing their employment, and myriad questions related to undocumented workers.
This paper, requested by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, is the third of several reports by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that present facts and research on immigration to help inform the agency's federal budget and economic projections. The paper focuses on the role of immigrants in the labor market -- the skills they bring to that market; the types of jobs they hold; their compensation; and their impact on the native-born workforce. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, nonpartisan analysis, this paper makes no recommendations.
Pizzigati, Sam. THE RICH AND THE REST: THE GROWING CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH (The Futurist, Vol. 39, No. 4, July-August 2005)
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In the United States the most affluent 1% of the population hold more wealth than the bottom 90% of the population combined (according to federal research). This statistic is not a revelation when one considers that the top CEO for General Electric took home $144.5 million in 2004, 3400 times that of a typical family. This situation is not unique to the United States with other countries show similar disparities. Is this inequality a necessary condition for economic growth? Studies cited by the author indicate that the economies of more egalitarian societies do not necessarily lag behind. Other studies reveal that unequal societies are less healthy, have a lower life expectancy and have a significantly greater impact on the environment. The debate on how how much inequality a society should tolerate and wage capping is not new. President Franklin D. Roosevelt favored a maximum wage that would be achieved by implementing a 100% tax rate above a certain income.
The author suggests a solution that ties maximum income to minimum wage. He suggests a factor of 10 --the top earners receiving a maximum of 10 times more than the lowest earners in a corporation or institution. In this way any increase in remuneration of upper echelons would benefit the lower earners, improving their quality of life. Further discussion on the impact of this initiative to the economy suggest that it will be minimal.
AA05108
Edmonds, Eric V.; Pavcnik, Nina. CHILD LABOR IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY (Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 19, No. 1, Winter 2005, pp. 199-220)
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Edmond and Pavcnik, assistant professors of economics at Dartmouth College, say economic development that raises the incomes of the poor is the best way to reduce child labor and improve education around the world. The best evidence of this is the fact that child labor declines rapidly as families become richer, reduce their dependence on the income of children, and start sending them to school, they write. Bans on child labor are not particularly effective, they note, and can simply force children into worse, underground child labor abuses such as prostitution. Initiatives that improve school infrastructure and reduce the cost of schooling -- including incentive programs such as conditional cash transfers for households that send children to school -- provide a promising way to reduce child labor, say the authors. Formal evaluations of programs designed to reduce child labor are lacking, so long-term solutions to the widespread incidence of child labor remains an open question, they write.
Moberg, David. CAN'T WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE: LABOR DEBATES ITS FUTURE. (The Nation, Vol. 280, No. 10, March 14, 2005)
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American workers are suffering as a result of a decline in real wages, slow job growth, the threat of offshoring, possible changes to social security and private pension schemes and a reduction of their rights. However, union membership has continued shrinking and is now only 12.5% of the workforce. The author focuses largely on the efforts and strategies of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a voluntary federation of 58 unions, to change this trend. The importance of devoting more resources to organizing, the merging of smaller unions to increase their effectiveness within economic sectors, cooperation between unions and broader social agendas are areas of discussion.