The 1970s were marked by an increase in the level of education attainment of the average worker. By 1979 thirty-six per cent of all workers over 18 completed at least one year of college, and the percentage of workers not completing high school declined considerably. While the proportion of men participating in the labor force continued to fall,…

Findings are presented from a May 1969 survey on the growing number of "moonlighters" in the work force: (1) one in twenty workers held more than one job during the survey week; (2) three of every ten multiple jobholders were women, nearly double the proportion of 1969; (3) the number of men with multiple jobs remained about the same; (4) the…

This serial issue, which is devoted to the challenges that recent changes in the U.S. workplace pose for society and labor-management relations, contains nine papers focusing on the following aspects of building a new workplace for the 21st century: historical and current perspectives; workforce and workplace changes; education and training of the…

Higher education not only contributes to the development of the human resources and intellectual betterment of the nation but is also a major economic enterprise. This research brief reviews and highlights data on the size and growth of higher education and illustrates how higher education institutions are preparing the future labor force. It…

Labor force participation rates for the years 1967 and 1987 indicate a significant trend toward early retirement by men (beginning in their fifties). Women in their fifties, on the other hand, have increased their labor force participation rate. By the age of 60, however, their labor force participation rates also decline sharply. Although this…

The Swedish employment structure and the role of colleges in preparing people for work is being studied by the Swedish Research on Higher Education program. The project is designed to: survey changes in the Swedish economy and employment structure during the postwar period; assess the extent to which business and industry have given priority to…

Systematic knowledge about the dimensions and levels of literacy and information about its distribution are prerequisites for forming good educational policy. This issue discusses the conduct and findings of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). The IALS was not intended to rank literacy skills across countries, but was intended to make…

A sectoral survey focused on ways in which vocational training plans are formulated and analysis of the cost effectiveness of continuing vocational training at the company level. It examined techniques applied to developing continuing vocational training and improving access. National surveys carried out for the retail trade sector revealed…

Many dramatic changes in the U.S. labor force are projected to occur around the turn of the century. For the first time, the United States will have an age cohort in the work force with equal representation by sex, that is, 50-50 for men and women aged 16 to 24 in the labor force. It is projected that in the year 2000 there will be 2.6 million…

Despite its high unemployment level, Germany is experiencing a shortage of specialists and managers. Germany's need for highly qualified information technology (IT) workers and engineers is particularly great. Approximately 10,000 posts for computer scientists and IT specialists remained vacant in 1998. Because of the shortage of such specialists,…

This research brief reviews recent and projected trends in the economy and the implications of those trends for the college-educated population in the labor market. Tables provide data on: (1) labor force participation rate by educational attainment and race, for 1978 and 1988; (2) unemployment rate by educational attainment and race, for 1978 and…

The information bulletins presented here are the first three issues of a biannual serial. They provide up-to-date information on key developments in women's employment position in the European Community (EC) plus some topical items of news and research from member states. Number 1 focuses on the feminization of the EC labor force that continued…

Four major trends reshaping the American economy are having a tremendous effect on the number and nature of jobs in the United States: (1) corporate downsizing; (2) the outsourcing of work and services; (3) increasing use of "contingent" workers; and (4) the increasing income disparity between high school and college graduates. These trends have…

Women comprised 43% of the United States labor force in 1980, up from 29% in 1950. The surge in women's employment is linked to more delayed marriage, divorce, separation, women's increased education, lower fertility, rapid growth in clerical and service jobs, inflation, and changed attitudes toward "women's place." Employment has risen…

The rising number of multi-earner families has been one of the most important socioeconomic developments of the 1970s; since 1970, the number of such families has increased by more than 3 million. Almost exclusively responsible for the rising number of multi-earner families have been the steep annual increases in the number and proportion of…