Discusses methodology to examine the problem of spatial mismatch of jobs, showing how the simple accessibility measures used by Daniel Immergluck (1998) are poor reflections of the availability of jobs to an individual and explaining why a gravity model is a favorable alternative. Also discusses the unsuitability of aggregate data for testing the…

Discusses the methodology used to analyze the availability of jobs for residents of a particular neighborhood, examining the spatial mismatch hypothesis in the context of jobs available to young minority males in cities. Considers the use of gravity models and the importance of large-scale data sets. (SLD)

Analyzes 1979 unemployment statistics in the Chinatowns of Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Presents a composite qualitative account, based on case studies, of their underlying labor system. Reports that Chinatown workers characteristically remain attached to the ethnic labor market, despite its low wages and employment instability. (KH)

Uses a modified version of the labor-utilization framework to measure the types and extents of underemployment for 2,107 black males and females, a sample from the National Survey of Black Americans (1980). Results reveal a larger percentage of females unemployed, underemployed by low hours or low income, and discouraged. (SLD)

Describes the mechanisms of deindustrialization, identifies the implications of this social and economic change for the central city as a whole and for urban schools in particular, and considers what these implications mean for urban schools and urban students. (SLD)

Reviews trends in Black economic progress and compares data for Black and White families. Describes how structural changes in families and income inequalities are symptoms of a growing Black underclass. Calls for policies to reduce joblessness among underclass men and increase child support by absentee fathers. (MW)

William Julius Wilson's "The Truly Disadvantaged" blames the rise in the Black urban underclass on the rapid, systemic, and structural changes in the economy in the 1970s, which left Black unemployment at a spectacularly high rate. His insights should be acknowledged and his recommendations heeded. (BJV)