Problems Of Youth Employment Research Articles

From High School to Work in Japan: Lessons for the United States?

Youth employment problems have received considerable public and scholarly attention in the United States in recent years. A chief concern is the worsening situation of high school‐educated youth versus their college‐educated counterparts in terms of wages, turnover rates, and unemployment. Japan has been cited as an example of a country that demonstrates how high school‐employer linkages can facilitate the successful and stable transition from high school to work. This article explains this system of linkages and critically evaluates its operation and results.

Job retention: Employment problems of youth

Job retention: Employment problems of youth

The nation's youth: an employment perspective

Statistics on youth employment problems are quite revealing—they accounted for almost one fourth of the unemployed eventhough they constituted only one-tenth of the nation's labor force in 1977. Youth unemployment is universally high, but variations by area of residence are evident and can be useful in analyzing their job market problems. To this end, data on the labor force characteristic of the nation's 16.5 million young people in three geographic areas—central cities, suburbs, and nonmetropolitan areas were examined. This investigation utilizes metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area data gathered monthly through a sample survey of some 47,000 households throughout the nation during 1977. Further, the labor market experience of both whites and blacks, and males and females are compared.

Toward a national youth employment policy: Mapping the route from problems to programs

The United States has not had a consistent, comprehensive youth employment policy. Program objectives are not clear and are often in conflict with the objectives of other programs aimed at the same target population. The primary needs at this juncture are a clearly specified policy objective and a method for identifying the ways in which potential interventions can help attain that objective. The authors argue that the genesis of public concern with youth employment problems lies in the general acceptance of greater equality of opportunity as a national goal. The appropriate objective of youth employment policy is conceptualized as the reduction of certain inequalities in economic opportunity that confront the young. Equality of economic opportunity is a long-run concept. The relations between actions at a point in time and opportunity over time are developed within a model of youth behavior. The analysis focuses on the notions of career paths, employment success, and economic oportunity.

Notes and News

THE NORTH of England Education Conference, held in Manchester at the end of December, attracted 950 delegates. Two sessions were of particular interest to our readers: that on ‘The Relationship of Secondary Schools with Technical Education’, addressed by Dr P. F. R. Venables, Principal of Birmingham College of Advanced Technology, and a discussion on ‘Problems of Youth Employment’ by a panel of four speakers.