DOCUMENT RESUME ED 230.696 CE 036 054 TITLE Expandplq Employment Opportunitkes for Disadvantaged Youth. Fifth Annual Report to the President and the Congress. Report No. 9. INSTITUTION. National Commission for Employment Policy (DOL), WashinVon, D.C. *PUB DATE Dec 79 .NOTE 247p. AVAILABLE FROM5uperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE .Information Analyses (070) -- Reports Descriptive (141) E RS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. ESCRIPTORS Adolescents; Adults; *Disadvantaged Youth; Economically Disadvantaged; Educationally Disadvantaged; *Education Work Relationship; *Employment Problems; Employment Programs; *Equal Opportunities (Jobs); Federal Government; Federal Programs; Females; *Government Role; Guidelines; High Schools; Minority Groups; Program Development; School Business Relationship; Unemployment; Young Adults; Youth; *Youth Employment ABSTRACT In its fifth annual report for 1979, the National Commission for Employment Policy recomeended that the nation make a new commitment to improving the employment prospects of disadvantaged youth. In preparing its findings and recommendations op youth unemployment, the commission received information froM the Youth Task Force; academic consultants; public and private agencies; public hearings held in Detroit, Memphis, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles; and the Vice President's Task Force on Youth Employment. The principal findings and recommendations of the commi5sion are the following:. (1) while most young people are able to make the transition from school to work without undue difficulty, many, especially minorities, high school dropouts, and low-income persons, face serious difficulties; (2) only through intensive programs, such as the Job Corps, that provide a broad range of services including educational remediation, skill training, ,and placement can we hope to reverse the cumulativ disadvantagesithat these young people have faced since birth; (3) presently available funds for disadvantaged youth should be used to encourage a closer linkage between schools and local employers; and (4) the Equal Employment Opportunity )Commission should encourage employers who are seeking to expand their proportion of minority and female employees by diecting them to the youth who complete remedial education and skill training and (5) the federal government,should explore the possibilities of including in contracts commitments from employers to hire job-ready disadvantaged youth. The commission also noted that a sustained high level of general employment is necessary to provide employment for disadvantaged persons and that the country should work to increase employment levels. (KC) 3 cp Fiftft Annual Report rf\ to the President and the Congress of the (\Motional Commission for Employment Policy Expanding Employment Oppodunities for Disadvantaged Youth US. OEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION N IONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION ED CA TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMA TION CENTER IRICl Thisdur limpethas been reproduced as ref nivOrlIron, 'the person or oryanitation ooqin,,talq MI11111 Ilanges hñv, beer, made to arlproyr toTrorl.i, tag: oodoy PfpraS wew ot opintonslatirs1flhiS Merl! NO-v.0 no, essaoly represent officialNIL- push lo polo y Report No. 9 National Commission for Employment Policy Suite 300, 1522 K Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 December 1979 2 MEMBERS OF THE NATIONALOOMMISSION FOR EMPLOYMENT POLICY Eli Ginzberg, Chairman: A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics and Director; Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia University, New York Ray Marshall, Secretary of Labor Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Max Cleland, Administrator of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Eleanor Holmes Norton, Chair, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Gracie la Olivarez, Director, Community Services Administrailon Michael J. Dukakis, Director, intergovernmental Studies, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Brookline, Massachusetts Roy R. Escarcega, Senior Vice President; Urban Development Division, The East Los Angeles Community Union, Los Angeles, California Patsy F. Fryman, Assistant to the President, Communications Workers of America, Fairfax, Virginia Carol S. Gibson, Director of the Education Division of the National Urban League and Chair of the -1 National Advisory Council on Vocational Education, New York City George L. Jenkins, Attorney-at-Law, Columbus, Ohio Sam Lena, Vice Chairman, Pima County Board of Supervisors, Tucson, Arizona Ruth Love, Superintendent of Schools, Oakiand, California Austin P. Sullivan, Jr., Vice President, General Mills, and Chairman of the Minnesota Governor's Council on Employment and Training, Wayzata,Minnesota Julius B. Thrower, Admissions Director, S. D. Bishop State Junior College and Vice Chairman, American Association of Minority Veterans Program Administrators, Mobile, Alabama Isabel V. Sawhill, Director Contents Page Letter of Transmittal to the President and the Congress of the United States Part A Recommendations 1 I. ixecutive Summary 3 II. Text of Recommendations 11 Part B An Assessment of Youth Employment Polnies for the 1980's .25 Preface 27 Chapter 1: Overview 29 Chapter 2: 'The Nature of the Problem 37 ,---Chapter 3:The Consequences of Youth's Experience in the Labor Market 67 Chaptr 4:Goals and Priorities 75,, Chapter 5: Policy Options for the 1980's 83 Chapter 6:A'ocational. Career and Compensatory Education ProgramsA Review of the Experieme 109 Chapter 7: Employment and Training Programs for YouthA Review of the Experience 131 Addendum APopulation and Labor Force Projections 167 Addendum BSize and CharaCteristics of the Low-Income Youth Population 171 Se le( ted References 177 Part C Major Commission Activities During 1979 193 4 t'art D Agenda for 1980 and 1981 201 Part E Appendixes 207 I. Special Reports cif the Commission. 1979 209 II. Commission Meetings. 1979 213 Field Hearings, 1979 --10red"215 IV. Commission Staff. 1979 247 V. Comments of the National AdvisoryCoUncil on Vocational Education on the Reportv;of the National Commission for Employment Policy, -and the Comments of the National Commission for Employment Policy on the Reports of the Nalicmal Advisory Coumil on Vocalic Thal Edit( at ion 249 iv 5 NATIONAL COMMISSION FOREMPLOYMENT POLICY 1522 K Shoat, NW, Sults 300 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 724-1545 December 31, 1979 To the President and Congressof the United States: Me attached report on ExpandmgEmployment Opportunities for Disadvantaged Youth is the Commission'sfifth annual submission under the provisions of Public-Law 95-524. In preparing its findings andrecommendations on*youthunem- `ployment, the Commission sought andreceived assistance froma kfariety of sources, including the work ofits Youth Task Force, in- depth analyses prepared by its staff,contributions from academic .«in sul tants, inputs from a large number of public andprivate organi- /rations through public hearings held inDetroit, Memphis, Phila- 4elphia, and Los Angeles, and close collaborationwith the staff of the Vice President's 'Fask Forceon Youth Employment: Ibegjrincipaliindings and remmmendationsof the Commission follow: While most young peopleare able to make the transition from school to work without undue difficulty,a substantial number, particularly those who come from familieswith low-income and minority-group status and whohave failed to acquirea high school diploma, face seriousdifficulties. _Unless their educational deficits can be reduced andeliminated, many will 111 not be able to obtain and hold a regular job.' Only with intensiveprograms, such as the Job Corps, which provide a broad range of servicesincluding educational remediation, skill training, and placementassistance, can we hope to reverse thc cumulative disadvantagesthat these young people have faced since, birth. f; The presently available funds fordisadvantaged youth should be utilized to encourage a clpserlinkage between the schools and local employers (viathe Private Industry (ounCils) and additional funding should be madeavailable to states and localities that are able and willing tocommit themselves to provide remedial education, includingthrough the estalllish- ment and expansion ofalternative schooling. The Equal Employment OpportunityCommission' should encourage employers who areseeking to expand their propor- tion of minorityand femaleemployees to improve their utiliza- tion by directing them to the ongoingsupply of young people who complete remedial educationand skill naining. Further, the federal government shouldexplore the potentialities of including in its grants-in-aid programsand contracts an em- ployment requirement that would involvecommitment on the partofrecipientstohireapercentage ofjob-ready disadvantaged youth. .1.he Commission is convincedthat a sustained high level of employment is a preconditionfor reducing the appallingly high unemployment rates amongdisadvantag* youth and thatthe.. Administration and Congress mustmonitor the ongoing efforts to bring these young people intothe mainstream of the American economy and society. Failure todo so would place our democracy in jeopardy. 'The Commission pledges thatit will continue to assist in any and all ways theefforts of the Congress, the Administration,and the American people toaccomplish this important national goal. ELI 6INZBERG Chairman vi 7 Part A Recommendations 8 I. Executive Summary Goals Given high and rising rates of unemployment,especially among minority youth. and the cumulative deficits whichare often produced by growing