Volume 1. the Youth Employment Problem: Causes and Dimensions
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 195 664 CE 026 756 TITLE A Review of Youth Employment Problems, Programs & Policies: Volume 1. The Youth Employment Problem: Causes and Dimensions. INSTITUTION Vice President's Task Force on Youth Employment, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Office of Youth Programs (DOL), Washington, D.C. PUB LATE Jan BO NOTE 377p.: Some tables will not reproduce well due to small, light print. Fcr related documents see CE 026 757 -758. EDRS PRICE MF01/PC16 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adolescents: Adults: Demography: Economically Disadvantaged: Economic Factors: Education Work Relationship: Employment Opportunities: Employment Patterns: *Employment Problems: Employment Programs: Employment Statistics: Labor Force: Minority Groups: *Needs Assessment: Policy Formation: *Public Policy: Race: Sex Role: Socitl Influences: Statistics: *Unemployment: *Youth Employment: *Youth Problems: Youth Programs ABSTRACT This series of thirteen reports reviewing available infcrmaticn cn the causes and dimensions of youth emplcyment is designed to provide an information base for policy formation. (It constitutes the first of a three-volume compendium: cther volumes deal with special needs and problems et youth employment policy and with program experience --see note.) The first four articles provide an analysis, needs assessment, sequential and developmental perspective, and facts and figures on youth employment problems. Age status differentials, intervention strategies, and teenage choices about work are discussed. Other issues examined include the need for youth employment policy, the social psychology of pocr youthas related tc employment, and the social costs of youth employment problems. A summary of youth views solicited by twenty-five National Football League players is given in one report. The final two reports cover youth differentials to the minimum wage and costs and benefits of part-time employment of in-schccl ycuth. (MN) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** FORWARD Youth employment is the most pressingmanpower challenge facing the country today. All unemployment is wasteful, but when it is concentrated among youth,as is presently the case, it has particular human, social, and economic consequences. It implies not only acurrent loss of valuable resources, but also lost returnson human capital investments which will doubtless extend well intothe future. Despite the fact that the Carter Administration hasput more people to work since 1976 than in any 3-year period since World War II, including the largest-scale targetedeffort for youth in history, the problem of youth unemployment remains severe. A few examples highlight this fact: o Despite a significant reduction in adult unemployment in recent years, similar gains have not been enjoyed by younger Americans. o Young people 16 throurh 24 have accounted for nearly one-half of all unemployed persons in the last five years. o Although Federal youth programs have signifi- cantly increased employment among black teens over the past 2 years, at least 400,000 minority teenagers remain unemployed. o While the unemployment rate for white teenagers has remained constant at about 13 percentover the past 25 years, the unemployment rate for black teenagers has grown from 17 to 36 percent. In order to address this challenge of youth unemployment, President Carter directed a full-scale review of Federal youth programs under the leadership of Vice President Walter F. Mondale. The aim was to develop youth policies for the 1980's which would make the best use ofscarce resources and institutional capacities in meeting this challenge. A Vice President's Task Force on Youth Employment was created and, working closely with the White House Domestic Policy staff, it conducted a comprehensive review throughout 1979. The review process, characterized by The New York Timesas "the most exhaustive ever," had several dimensions. Fourteen Federal agencies with youth programs participated, submitting a massive array of information on universe of need, program experiences and recommendations. -2- Groups outside the government were involved through a range of private meetings, seminars, roundtables, but especially through a series of conferences on issuescritical to the youth unemployment program - inner-city problems, the work-education connection, the problems of special needs groups, Job Corps, and the role of nonprofit and community-based groups. Finally, the Vice President'sTask Force on Youth Employment commissioned a range of academic experts and practioners to present analyses of key policy issues and program experiences. This compendium is drawn from the submissions of the 14 Federal agencies, from the background papers utilized in the various conferences, and from the analyses developed by experts and practitioners. It is divided into three segments: First, analyses of the overall magnitude and causes of youth employment nroblems; second, more detailed investigations of special dimensions such as race,location, and the other barriers to e ,?loyment experienced by subsegmentsof youth population and third, assessments of program experiences. This compendium provides the informational base for the recommendations of the Vice President's Task Force on Youth Employment. The views are, however, those of the authors, who were consciously selected toachieve a balanced range of perspec- tives and expertise. The Department. of Labor's Office of Youth Programs,which provided the financial support for the Vice President's Task Force, was responsible for editing and overviewing the papers in this compendium. It is important to stress, however, that thepolicy review effort and the analysis process involved all Federal agencies and a multiplicity of viewpoints. In editing this evidence, care has been taken to retain this breadth ofperspective. As might be expected, the scope of thesubject yields a variety of recommendations. There is not always unanimity of opinion. But the entire review process, as well asthis compendium of papers, has increased the consensusthat youth employment problems are serious, that current programs areuseful but can be improved, and cost critically that we have the resources,the knowledge, and the will to substantially eliminate youthemployment problems in the 1980's. Thomas Glynn Director Vice President's Task Force on Youth Employment TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME 1. THE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROBLEM: CAUSES AND DIMENSIONS 1. An Analysis of Youth Employment P Robert Lerman 2. Youth Employment: A Needs Assessment Justine Farr Rodriguez 3. The Youth Employment Problem: A Sequential and Development Perspective Robert Taggart 4. The Youth Unemployment Problem; Facts Id Figures David Robison 5. Age Status Differentials and Intervention Strategies - David Gottlieb 6. Teenagers: What Are Their Choices About Work?- Stephen M. Hills, Lois B. Shaw, Kezia Sproat 7. Towards Defining The Universe of Need for Youth Employment Policy - David H. Swinton 8. The Universe of Need For Youth Employment: The Reality Behind The Statistics- Marion W. Pines, Robert Ivry and Joel Lee 9. The Social Psychology of Poor Youth As Related to Employment - Leonard Goodwin 10. Estimating The Social Costs of Youth Employment Problems - M. Harvey Brenner 11. Youth Views - NFL Players Association 12. Youth Differentials To The Minimum Wage: A Summary of the Arguments - Terence Kelly 13. Part-time Employment of In-School Youth: A Preliminary Assessment of Costs and Benefits- - Ellen Greenberger and Laurance D. Steinberg VOLUME II. SPECIAL NEEDS AND CONCENTRATEDPROBLEMS 1. Discrimination and Minority YouthUnemployment - Robert B. Hill 2. The Employment Problems ofBlack Youth: A Review of the Evidence and SomePolicy Suggestions - Paul Osterman 3. An Analysis of the Black YouthEmployment Problem - Frank Levy and Robert Lerman 4. Profile of the Labor Market: Young Women and Work - Vern Goff 5. Youth Employment PoliCies: An Hispanic Perspective - Richard Santos 6. Hispanic Youth and Public Policy: Data Problems, Issues and Needs - GilbertCardenas 7. The Youth Employment Drug Problem: An Approach to Increasing theEmployability of Youthful Drug Users - PhilipG. Vargas 8. Targeting Money on Youth: The Case for the Cities - Frank Levy Material 9. Youth EmploymentPolicy Background Robert Taggart andBrian Linder 6 VOLUME III. PROGRAM EXPERIENCE 1. The Youth Employment Delivery System- Richard F. Elmore 2. Lessons from Program Experience - Robert Taggart 3. Practitioners' Perspectives on Youth Programs - Henry M. Brickell 4. Public Sector Job Creation for Youth: Some Observations on Its Role and Effectiveness - David R. Zimmerman 5. Public Job Creation -- A Means to an End - Ann Michel 6. Youth Access to Private-Sector Jobs Frederick A. Taylor 7. Youth Access to Private Sector Jobs: The Sorcerer's Apprentice - David Robison 8. Youth and the Private Sector - Kathy Garmezy 9. Practical Alternatives for Educating the Poor: Education Remedies for Youth Unemployment - Richard A. Graham 10. Basic Education - Barbara L. Jackson 11. Training and Motivation - Marcia Freedman 12. Training and Motivation of Youth George R. Quarles 13. Supportive Services: A Conceptual Framework - Federick Nader and John Calhoun 14. Alternative Education and Youth Employment - Allen Graubard 15. Search for Effective Schools: The Identification and Analysis of City Schools That Are Instructionally