This Congressional report contains the testimony given at a hearing pertaining to passage of the Youth Employment Opportunity Wage Act of 1985. (The act, which would terminate in September 1987, would authorize an employer to pay a subminimum, "youth employment opportunity wage" to a person under 20 years of age.) Included among those…

Describes a program of the Youth Incentive Entitlement Pilot Projects (YIEPP) that offered a minimum wage job to 16 to 19 year olds who were from low-income households and who were still enrolled in high school. Provides strong evidence that the unemployment of these youths is largely involuntary, due to demand deficiency at the minimum wage. (NRJ)

Examines how the numbers of workers with earnings at or below the federal minimum wage varies, depending on how the hourly earnings measure is computed. (Author)

Studies suggest negative employment consequences if the minimum wage is increased. This may not affect poverty among households headed by women because the unemployment rate does not seem to play a statistically significant role in determining the poverty rate for this cohort. (Author)

Most workers who begin their careers in minimum-wage jobs eventually gain more experience and move on to higher paying jobs. However, more than 8% of workers spend at least half of their first 10 working years in minimum wage jobs. Those more likely to have minimum wage careers are less educated, minorities, women with young children, and those…

This article argues that, although No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is not presented as a jobs policy, the Act does function as a substitute for the creation of decently paying jobs for those who need them. Aimed particularly at the minority poor like its 1965 predecessor, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, NCLB acts as an anti-poverty program…

The article describes the payment mechanisms currently available to reimburse workers with severe disabilities for work performed. The advantages and disadvantages of competitive employment at or above minimum wage, competitive employment below minimum wage, contracted employment through a rehabilitation agency, and self-employment are discussed.…

It is the thesis of this booklet, one of a series intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, that minimum wage laws actually hurt those whom such laws are designed to help. From this point of departure, separate subsections examine economic implications of minimum wage laws, including discussion of what…

The book is designed to explain the entire Fair Labor Standards Act. The 1974 amendments are detailed regarding new and previously covered employees, agricultural labor, government employees, domestics, conglomerates, small stores, other revisions, overtime exemptions, and age discrimination. The document elaborates on specifications for overtime…

Efforts to shift women from welfare into the labor market will not necessarily move women out of poverty because the wages they are likely to earn are so low. According to research tracking Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients over a 2-year period, 43% of AFDC recipients combine welfare with a substantial amount of paid…

With welfare reform now a reality, policy makers and employers must grapple with the employment impediments that keep much of the welfare population out of the work force. The foremost problem is illiteracy. One-third of welfare recipients are functionally illiterate; another third possesses only marginally better reading skills, still unable to…

In light of pressure on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 per hour, a study looked at the effects such a raise would have on more than 10 million workers, many of them teenagers. The study used quarterly data on the labor force participation rates of teenagers from 1978 through 1999 and other studies to assess the effects of…

An exploratory econometric model to explain the duration of industrial training programs and to assess training policy is explored. The major results are that most training is conducted in large firms, turnover discourages specific training while government assistance encourages it, and neither minimum wages nor unions have significant negative…

Estimates the effects of higher minimum wages on school enrollment using the Common Core of Data. Controlling for local labor market conditions and state and year fixed effects, finds some evidence that higher minimum wages reduce teen school enrollment in states where students drop out before age 18. (23 references) (Author/PKP)

In 1997, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry implemented a change in its method of determining prevailing wage and benefit rates, resulting in a reduction in the legally required prevailing rates in many construction trades in much of the state. This report analyzes data to determine if this change in fact lowered the cost of public…