Income growth and stagnation is discussed, several trends in income inequality among American families are examined, and the notion of a vanishing middle class that may be losing the college cost race is addressed. (MSE)

Although productivity growth slowed during 1976-81 for most of the industries surveyed, a majority of significant industries showed advances in output per employee hour in 1981. The growth in industry productivity was consistent with the gain in the nonfarm business sector of the economy, which grew 1.4 percent. (SSH)

Trends in paid employment among college students since the early 1960s are described, effects on student persistence and the financial rate of return for individual students while in college are analyzed, and possible explanations for the rising trend in employment are examined. (Author/MSE)

In September 1988, 13.1 million people in the United States wanted jobs, a jobless rate more than twice the official unemployment rate. The official rate does not count the people who have stopped looking for work because they believe that none is available. However, joblessness is only part of the problem. Also important is the phenomenon of the…

Factors in the rise of college costs are discussed, including increased expenditures, enrollment leveling; state and federal funding patterns, competition, and the declining numbers of traditional college age students. (MSE)

Productivity increased in 1981 in the United States, Japan, and European countries studied. Gains ranged from 2 to 4 percent in the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, to 6 percent in England and Denmark, and more than 7 percent in Belgium. In Canada and Sweden, productivity remained essentially unchanged. (SSH)

When Albania began its transition to a market economy, its education was geared to meeting the productive needs of a controlled economy and the social and ideological needs of a socialist state. Expanding the economy's long-term productive capacity in a market environment and building a democratic system called for thorough reform of the education…

This briefing paper presents statistical evidence from a variety of data sources that the real income of the average U.S. household has been stagnant for a decade; primary causes are also examined. The major reasons identified for income stagnation are (1) declining real wages; (2) a less productive economy (economic growth has slowed down)…

The literature on employment growth in the United States and selected industrialized countries and the wage, benefits, and job security characteristics of new and existing jobs were analyzed to determine how job growth and quality in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s compares to that in other industrialized countries. Among the study's…

The changing profile of the Latino population in the American Midwest, based primarily on recent Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data, is summarized for policy makers and other interested parties. This report is intended as a reference and focal point for classroom discussion of regional social and public policy issues. A section on data…