Blue-collar Jobs Research Articles

The march of climate policy

The march of climate policy

Information Technology Career Preparation for Rural Areas

ABSTRACT One component of postsecondary education needed for economic recovery and development relates to blue-collar industries, jobs requiring some postsecondary training but less than a four-year degree. The U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program provides funding for community colleges to partner with industry to deliver to unemployed/underemployed adults the education and training needed for high-demand blue-collar jobs, with stackable credentials and certificates as the framework. This study evaluated the impact of a Round 3 TAACCCT grant funded to a seven-institution community college consortium in Florida (XCEL-IT). Using a quasi-experimental design with matched samples, XCEL-IT students were nearly eight times as likely to complete training and over five times as likely to continue enrollment in other education relative to comparison students. Non-incumbent XCEL-IT completers were more than six times as likely to enter employment. Additional findings, conclusions, and implications for practice are provided.

\u201cEmployers could use us, but they don\u2019t\u201d: voices from blue-collar workplaces in a northern periphery

This article analyses labour market experiences of migrants of non-Nordic origin who have settled in the Faroe Islands, a small North Atlantic archipelago with a population of about 51,000 people. By examining the experiences of educated migrant workers who are employed in three different blue-collar workplaces: a cleaning company and two fish-processing plants, evidence is drawn from a cross-disciplinary study on language and migration in the Faroe Islands. This study explores the experiences of migrants in acquiring, using and becoming “new speakers” of Faroese and the challenges they face regarding labour market access and participation. In this article, framed within an ethnography of language policy, we highlight the institutional language policies which may be shaping migrants’ experiences, and how migrants enact their own language policy decisions and practices on the ground. We focus in particular on internal communication and language management in the three blue-collar worksites, comprising views and voices of both employers and employees, on the language policies and practices observed in these workplaces, and on workers’ views on language learning opportunities in blue-collar workplaces. Added to this, attention is drawn to implications of limited language learning opportunities in blue-collar jobs (which become the main barrier to accessing skilled jobs), to underutilisation of professional skills, and to long term implications of present macro- and micro-level language policies and practices affecting lived realities of workers of migrant origin.

Globalization and mental distress

We study the effects of import competition on workers' mental distress, using unique longitudinal data on mental health for British residents, coupled with measures of import competition in more than 100 industries over 1995–2007. We find that import competition has a large negative impact on individual mental health. Compared to a worker employed in the industry at the 25th percentile of the import competition distribution, a worker employed in the industry at the 75th percentile would need a yearly monetary compensation of £270 to make up for her greater utility loss. We find import competition to have larger effects on the right tail of the mental distress distribution, thereby increasing inequality in mental health not only across but also within industries. We show that this is consistent with import competition disproportionately hitting specific groups of workers in an industry, such as the youngest or those with a large family, a poor financial condition, a short job tenure, a temporary contract, and a blue-collar or tradable job. Using information on family ties, we find that import competition has negative spillovers to other family members. In particular, women's mental distress increases as a consequence of the import competition faced by their partners. Moreover, paternal import competition leads to reduced investment in child rearing and worsened children's self-esteem and life satisfaction. Finally, we provide evidence that import competition is likely to work through a complex set of channels. These include observable labor market outcomes such as higher likelihood of job displacement and lower wage growth, but also reduced job satisfaction and gloomier expectations about the future.

Women in Blue: Structural and Individual Determinants of Sex Segregation in Blue-Collar Occupations

The number of women occupying male-dominated blue-collar jobs continues to be very low. This study examines segregation in the blue-collar trades, taking into consideration both structural and individual factors. Using nationally representative data for 25 countries, the study shows that segregation in the blue-collar sector does not vary with the strength of vocational education and training programs. At the individual level, findings reveal higher degrees of social reproduction among working-class families, but parental background alone does not fully account for the gender composition of the sector in which children end up working. Overall, the findings point to the existence of a socializing mechanism that entrenches horizontal segregation in the blue-collar sector. The study indicates that to reduce segregation in the blue-collar fields, policies must address this prior mechanism, both at the structural and individual level.

Smoking and urinary cotinine by socioeconomic status in the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study

BackgroundAssociations of socioeconomic status (SES) and smoking-related diseases depend on uniform validity of self-reported smoking habits in different SES groups. We investigated the influence of SES on validity of self-reported...

The Economic Benefits of Volunteering and Social Class

A theory that the economic benefits of volunteering are contingent on social class (as defined by similarities in labour market situation) is tested using seven waves of longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Study gathered between 1996 and 2008 and fixed-effects models. Volunteering has a positive effect on earnings, but it is confined to people in professional and managerial occupations. Employees in white and blue collar jobs do not benefit. The study suggests that inconsistent results from previous studies might be due to failure to consider occupational heterogeneity among volunteers.

Getting Dividend from Demography: Skills Policy and Labour Management in Contemporary Indian Industry

This article is an analytical reflection based on a personal account of working with one of India’s new-generation vocational training and placement agencies implementing the government’s skills policy after its revamping in 2009. As the author struggles to search for decent jobs on behalf of trained candidates, she provides insights into the state of blue-collar jobs and the troubled relationships between company ‘human resources’ (HR) and industrial relations (IR) managers and their workforce. While the public programmes and policies referred to here are ostensibly about skill, the article reveals them to have quite a different purpose for industry: they offer ways by which employers can not only secure the flow of casual workers but also tie them in, thereby stabilizing their workforce in an era where the ‘permanent worker’ is no longer an acceptable or viable category. Presenting a backdrop of moral ambiguity and dilemma, the article highlights the disconnect between the declared intent of government ‘skills’ policy and the way in which it is actually realized, from the viewpoint of employer, student and vocational training provider.

Exploratory investigation of region level risk factors of Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa.

BackgroundEbola Virus Disease (EVD) is a highly infectious disease that has produced over 25,000 cases in the past 50 years. While many past outbreaks resulted in relatively few cases, the 2014 outbreak in West Africa was the most deadly occurrence of EVD to date, producing over 15,000 confirmed cases.ObjectiveIn this study, we investigated population level predictors of EVD risk at the regional level in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.MethodsSpatial and descriptive analyses were conducted to assess distribution of EVD cases. Choropleth maps showing the spatial distribution of EVD risk across the study area were generated in ArcGIS. Poisson and negative binomial models were then used to investigate population and regional predictors of EVD risk.ResultsResults indicated that the risk of EVD was significantly lower in areas with higher proportions of: (a) the population living in urban areas, (b) households with a low quality or no toilets, and (c) married men working in blue collar jobs. However, risk of EVD was significantly higher in areas with high mean years of education.ConclusionsThe identified significant predictors of high risk were associated with areas with higher levels of urbanization. This may be due to higher population densities in the more urban centers and hence higher potential of infectious contact. However, there is need to better understand the role of urbanization and individual contact structure in an Ebola outbreak. We discuss shortcomings in available data and emphasize the need to consider spatial scale in future data collection and epidemiological studies.

The association between occupational standing and sedentary leisure time over consecutive workdays among blue-collar workers in manual jobs.

Blue-collar workers spend much leisure time sedentary, which is associated with numerous health impairments. The extensive sedentary leisure time among blue-collar workers could be caused by fatigue from physically demanding work, like stationary standing. Occupational stationary standing is prevalent in many blue-collar jobs and has been shown to induce fatigue. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between occupational standing and sedentary leisure time over several workdays among blue-collar workers. This study used data from 925 workers from Danish workplaces within cleaning, transportation, manufacturing, construction, road maintenance, garbage disposal, and health service. Eligible workers wore accelerometers for 2-5 consecutive workdays. A linear regression was used to investigate the association between percent of work time spent standing and leisure time spent sedentary. A multilevel growth model was used to assess the association between standing during work and sedentary leisure time over consecutive workdays. We found no association between percent of work hours spent standing and percent of leisure time spent sedentary (coef. = 0.01, p = 0.84). The results showed an increase in the workers' sedentary leisure time over a week (coef. = 0.70, p < 0.01). However, this increase was not associated with consecutive workdays exposed to occupational standing (coef. = 0.02, p = 0.42). In this study, we found no support of a positive association between occupational standing and sedentary leisure time. This lack of association could be attributable to a low variation in sedentary leisure time or the chosen definition and measurement of occupational standing.

Keeping It in the Family: Female Inheritance, Inmarriage, and the Status of Women

While female property ownership is associated with positive outcomes for women, their right to inherit property in patrlineal societies may also result in more constraining marriage norms. I test the following hypothesis: Where a woman inherits property, her male relatives are more likely to arrange her marriage to a cousin in order to keep her share of property within the male lineage. The increase in unearned income due to female inheritance also reduces women’s economic participation, especially in blue-collar jobs where women’s work is subject to social stigmas. Using a difference-in-differences design that exploits exogenous variation induced by a reform of inheritance laws in India in 2005, the study finds that women exposed to the female inheritance law are more likely to marry their paternal cousins and less likely to work, especially in agriculture. The paper also discusses possible implications for the evolution of marriage and gender norms in Islamic societies, where female inheritance is mandated by Islamic law.

The Need for Localized Risk (Venture) Capital: Place-Based Impact Investing

There is a growing recognition that the concentration of risk or venture capital in so few communities presents not only a challenge for the start-ups emerging from the many university entrepreneurial programs, incubators, and accelerators, but also is having a negative impact on the overall economy. Simultaneously, advancements in technology have undoubtedly improved the efficiency and profitability of many, if not most, industries. However, this has come at the expense of blue-collar jobs—and subsequently, the middle class. Moreover, with the concentration of venture capital in Silicon Valley, Boston, and now New York City, the companies located in those cities receive the lion’s share of funding and enjoy the associated economic benefits of innovation and technological advancement—vibrant and expanding employment opportunities and wealth creation. This double-whammy of job losses across much of the country and concentrated wealth creation in few communities has come to the attention of researchers, forward-thinking community and family foundations, and wealthy individuals concerned with broadening the economic opportunities that innovation and technological advancement provide. The necessity to mobilize capital on a localized or regionalized basis has been labeled Place-Based Impact Investing. This article will review the research and conclusions that have fueled the need for Place-Based Impact Investing, identify the current thought leaders, and describe some of the early efforts at mobilizing “legacy capital” into communities to support the growing but underfunded innovative companies. We also will explore some of the new methods, vehicles, and overlooked tax laws that can accelerate the mobilization of capital on a more geographic and meritocratic manner.

Blue-collar work and women's health: A systematic review of the evidence from 1990 to 2015

Despite the implications of gender and sex differences for health risks associated with blue-collar work, adverse health outcomes among blue-collar workers has been most frequently studied among men. The present study provides a “state-of-the-field” systematic review of the empiric evidence published on blue-collar women's health. We systematically reviewed literature related to the health of blue-collar women published between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 2015. We limited our review to peer-reviewed studies published in the English language on the health or health behaviors of women who were presently working or had previously worked in a blue-collar job. Studies were eligible for inclusion regardless of the number, age, or geographic region of blue-collar women in the study sample. We retained 177 studies that considered a wide range of health outcomes in study populations from 40 different countries. Overall, these studies suggested inferior health among female blue-collar workers as compared with either blue-collar males or other women. However, we noted several methodological limitations in addition to heterogeneity in study context and design, which inhibited comparison of results across publications. Methodological limitations of the extant literature, alongside the rapidly changing nature of women in the workplace, motivate further study on the health of blue-collar women. Efforts to identify specific mechanisms by which blue-collar work predisposes women to adverse health may be particularly valuable in informing future workplace-based and policy-level interventions.

Emerging Therapies: Communication, Consent, and Collaboration in Research-Based Treatment.

Emerging Therapies: Communication, Consent, and Collaboration in Research-Based Treatment.

A pathway from low socioeconomic status to dementia in Japan: results from the Toyama dementia survey

BackgroundThe association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and dementia is reportedly mediated by lifestyle-related diseases (i.e., diabetes) in European countries and the United States; however, in Japan, the link between low SES and dementia has not been investigated. This study evaluated the possibility of a mediating role of lifestyle-related diseases in the relationship between low SES and dementia in Japan.MethodsA retrospective case-control study design, with data from the Toyama Dementia Survey, Japan, was used. Individuals aged ≥65 years (institutionalized and noninstitutionalized) living in Toyama prefecture were randomly selected, with a sampling rate of 0.5%. Of them, 1303 agreed to participate (response rate 84.8%). Overall, 137 cases of dementia and 1039 unimpaired controls were identified. Structured interviews with participants and family members or proxies were conducted, if necessary. Participants’ history of medically diagnosed disease, lifestyle factors (i.e., smoking and alcohol drinking habits), and SES (educational attainment and occupational history) were assessed. The possibility of low SES being a risk factor for dementia via lifestyle-related diseases was investigated using the Sobel test.ResultsThe odds ratio (OR) for dementia was higher for participants with low educational attainment (6 years or less) than for highly educated participants [age- and sex-adjusted OR 3.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.84–5.81]; it was also higher for participants with a blue-collar job history than a white-collar job history (age- and sex-adjusted OR 1.26; 95% CI 0.80–1.98). After adjustment for employment history, the OR for dementia for participants with low educational attainment was 3.23–3.56. Former habitual alcohol consumption and a medical history of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and angina pectoris/cardiovascular disease were found to increase the risk of dementia. Educational attainment was not associated with alcohol consumption, smoking, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, or cardiovascular disease. Occupational history was associated with diabetes and stroke. The role of diabetes in low educational attainment and dementia was found to be extremely limited.ConclusionsIn Japan, lifestyle-related diseases play a minimal role as mediators between low SES and dementia.

Do Women and Men Have the Same Patterns of Multiple Occupational Carcinogenic Exposures? Results from a Cohort of Cancer Patients.

Complex exposure situations are frequent at the workplace, but few studies have characterized multiple occupational carcinogenic exposures (MOCE) and their gendered differences across jobs' characteristics. We assessed MOCE separately in male and female jobs and identified patterns of MOCE at job level. Participants (834 men and 183 women) were cancer patients recruited between March 2002 and December 2010 in the ongoing SCOP93 cohort study, Seine-Saint-Denis department, France. Job histories were collected through personal interviews, and carcinogenic exposures were assessed by a multidisciplinary expert committee using a list of 53 carcinogens. Proportion of MOCE (i.e. ≥2 carcinogens) was assessed for male and female jobs separately. Principal component analysis combined with hierarchical ascendant classification was used to identify patterns of MOCE. Among the 5202 male jobs and 885 female jobs, respectively 42 and 9% were multi-exposed. Blue-collar workers and jobs in the construction and industry sectors had the highest rates of MOCE, contrasting with jobs held in recent periods (≥1997) and by patients aged ≥45 years at job start. A gradient of MOCE was also observed according to occupational segregation for both men and women. Eight patterns of MOCE were identified among male jobs: widespread carcinogens, mixed silica dust, heavy metals/combustion products, organic compounds/radiation, metal working, solvents/heavy metals, wood dust/formaldehyde/pesticides, and fuel exhausts. Three patterns of MOCE were found among female jobs: biological/organic compounds, industrial working, and fuel exhausts. Some patterns of MOCE were job-specific, whereas other patterns were found across different occupations. These results suggest that patterns of MOCE partly differ between men and women. They stress the importance of gendering multiple exposure assessment studies and point out the inadequacy of occupational disease compensation systems based on a single factor and non-gendered approach of carcinogenesis, ignoring differences between men and women in complex occupational exposure situations.

Marginal Jobs and Job Surplus: A Test of the Efficiency of Separations

We present a sharp test for the efficiency of separations. First, we document a dramatic increase in the separation rate – 11.2ppt (28%) over five years – in response to a quasi-experimental extension of UI benefit duration for older workers. Second, after the abolition of the policy, the job survivors in the formerly treated group exhibit exactly the same separation behavior as the control group. Juxtaposed, these facts reject the Coasean prediction of efficient separations, whereby the UI extensions should have extracted marginal (low-surplus) jobs and thereby rendered the remaining (high-surplus) jobs more resilient after its abolition. Third, we show that a formal model of predicted efficient separations implies a piece-wise linear function of the actual control group separations beyond the missing mass of marginal matches. A structural estimation reveals point estimates of the share of efficient separations below 4%, with confidence intervals rejecting shares above 13%. Fourth, to characterize the marginal jobs in the data, we extend complier analysis to difference-in-difference settings such as ours. The UI-indiced separators stemmed from declining firms, blue-collar jobs, with a high share of sick older workers, and firms more likely to have works councils – while their wages were similar to program survivors. The evidence is consistent with a non-Coasean framework building on wage frictions preventing efficient bargaining, and with formal or informal institutional constraints on selective separations.

Is the U.S. Labor Market for Truck Drivers Broken? An Empirical Analysis Using Nationally Representative Data

The US trucking industry trade press often portrays the US labor market for truck drivers as not working, citing persistent driver shortages and high levels of firm‐level turnover, and predicting significant resulting constraints on the supply of motor freight services. We investigate the truck driver labor market using three techniques. First, using data from the Occupational Employment Statistics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we delineate the structure of the driver workforce.Second, from the same source we find that the trucking labor market has displayed some characteristics of a tight labor market since 2003: rising nominal wages, stable/growing employment, and lower rates of unemployment than other blue-collar jobs. Third, using data from the Current Population Survey we describe the occupations and industries from which drivers come and to which drivers go, when they change occupations, and statistically analyze these entries and exits. We find relatively high rates of occupational attachment among drivers, and importantly, we also find that truck drivers respond in the expected manner to differences in earnings across occupations.Finally, we point out that the issues discussed by the industry are concentrated in one segment of the overall market, that for drivers in long distance truckload (TL) motor freight, which contains between one sixth and one fourth of all heavy and tractor‐trailer truck drivers. These findings suggest a more nuanced view of this labor market. The market as a whole appears to work as well as any other blue‐collar labor market, and while the truck driver market tends to be tight, there do not appear to be any special constraints preventing entry into (or exit from) the occupation. There is thus no reason to think that driver supply should fail to respond to price signals in the standard way, given sufficient time. The persistent issues localized in the TL segment are not visible in the aggregate data, and require a distinct analysis.

Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on New Ventures Creation - A Case Study

This study explored the impact of entrepreneurship education on new ventures creations. Entrepreneurship education is viewed as a potent tool for influencing students ‘learning orientation and expression of new ventures creations. And this has assisted in the creation of blue collar jobs thereby alleviating poverty in various economies. A qualitative method was employed using semi-structured interviews as data collection tools. A total of fifteen (15) students who own startup in the selected universities were sampled and interviewed. Data was transcribed ad-verbatim and analyzed. The results showed significant impact of the constructs of entrepreneurship education and new venture creation of the sampled students. The findings further revealed a plethora of hidden facts on the reasons for both the acceptance and reluctance on student’s start-up of businesses after before and after graduation. Based on the findings, it was recommended that practical activities should be emphasized during students ‘course of study and interest should involve identification of products and market opportunities.

PERSONNEL SHIFT: WILL THE YOUTH MAKE UP FOR THE SHORTAGE OF STAFF IN THE PRODUCTION SECTOR AND AGRO-INDUSTRY

The issue of skilled workers has been debated since 2008—2009 and today it is still relevant. The paper highlights the findings of two sociological studies conducted in the Russian regions with clear sectoral specificity. The studies were based on a questionnaire survey among the students of vocational schools and expert interviews with heads of enterprises, sectoral associations, chambers of commerce and directors of vocational schools. The obtained data help to define a typical student of vocational schools as well as his/her study motivation; what sort of employment students expect to have after the graduation; why enterprises still experience difficulties making up for staff shortage; whether the business community has leant to manage their long-term staffing needs and the vocational school system has started to respond to those needs effectively. The authors show that the career choice is shaped by prospects of a well-paid job and an ability to have an easy access to education and to get professional skills within a short period of time. More than half of students agree with almost all positive statements concerning the blue-collar jobs; at the same time, two-thirds of them are aware that their working conditions might be heavy or unsafe. Though upon graduation most of respondents report to have made the right choice, few hit the fields and industrial workshops. This is caused by law salaries of the young staff and/or the enterprise location and an opportunity to get alternative careers in commerce and services. Short-term planning horizon and low profitability do not allow enterprises to estimate staffing needs and to create a pool of workforce. In turn, it misleads the vocational training system and ‘preserves’ the labor imbalances. Both the young respondents and the experts say that the situation could be improved by conducting more consistent and effective policies to support the production and the Agro-industrial Sectors.