Contingent workers are those employed in jobs that do not fit the traditional description of a full-time, permanent job with benefits. Contingent work takes the form of part-time, temporary, and contract employment. The number of contingent workers in 1988 has been estimated at between 29.9 and 36.6 million, representing 25-30 percent of the…

This paper appraises some completed and current research into discrimination in employment and indicates directions and questions for future research. Most research views discrimination as an economic waste and a social and moral evil, and so should be appraised in the light of the impact that it may have on eliminating or reducing discrimination.…

In 1993, 10.4 million people were classified as being among the working poor. Of those individuals living in poverty, 2.4 million worked year round at full-time jobs and 7.4 million lived in a household containing someone who was employed full time throughout the year. A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report identified low earnings, involuntary…

The Texas tradition of placing women and minorities in lower paying, less prestigious jobs without policy-making responsibility continued through the 1970s in the areas of public employment and public education. For all employment at all governmental levels in all regions and city sizes, minority members and women earned the lowest salaries.…

This study was conducted to determine how many workers are in low-wage jobs; their characteristics and changes in their characteristics over time; the characteristics of the low-wage jobs; gender, sex, and racial factors influencing participation in low-wage jobs; and the relationship of low-wage work to family poverty and welfare receipt. The…

This report summarizes the presentations and discussions at a conference on contingent labor sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. The first two sections are introductory: (1) "Introduction to the Role of Contingent Labor" (Kathleen Christensen, Mary Murphree); and (2) "Between Now and the Year 2000: A Glimpse of the Workplace" (Jill Houghton…

A survey of 13,582 employees of 261 employers was conducted in Iowa to determine if women are underemployed (i.e., not employed in positions or at pay levels commensurate with their education, previous work experience and aspirations) and underutilized (i.e., not employed in certain types and levels of positions to the same extent as their…

Discusses the use of statistical analysis to identify patterns of discrimination in employment. Analyzes the effects of job segregation on women and minorities at the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. (FMW)

The actual and desired working hours of women in western and eastern Germany were examined by surveying a random sample of 6,742 western and eastern German women aged 18-65 years. Of the women interviewed, 1,800 from western Germany and 1,341 from eastern Germany were in dependent employment. An overall response rate of 52.8% was achieved.…

In response to the need for up-to-date information on employment opportunities for handicapped people in the leisure occupations, a national survey was conducted to determine both existing levels of employment and employer practices. The survey was sent to 500 agencies and businesses representing four leisure occupational subclusters: travel,…

Multi-year applied research studied operations and outcomes of six employment initiatives that developed industry-based approaches to workforce development. Findings from the longitudinal survey of 732 individuals indicated participants in sectoral programs improved their position within local labor markets; increased wages, hours worked, and…

Most research in the area of nonstandard work arrangements continues to find differences in wages, benefits, and career prospects between full-time and part-time (PT) workers. Wages and fringe benefits are almost always lower for PT workers. Women who work PT are 88% less likely and men are 86% less likely to receive health insurance or a pension…

This policy statement focuses on ways of overcoming unemployment and underemployment for groups (young, old, disadvantaged) that typically experience high or prolonged joblessness, and on increasing incentives for productive work. Recommendations resulting from the CED study focus on these areas: new and expanded use on a nationwide basis of…

Work in the lives of most Third World nation women is not a matter of equity and/or self-actualization. Rather, the changing economic roles and responsibilities of women make working a matter of economic survival. Despite the limitations of existing definitional and measurement problems related to data collection, regional data do exist which…

Numerous sources of data about family incomes, taxes, wages, unemployment, wealth, and poverty were used to analyze the impact of the economy on living standards in the United States in 1994-1995. It was discovered that most individuals in the United States are worse off in the 1990s than they were at the end of the 1970s. Between 1979 and 1989,…