Testimony is presented from a hearing held to consider a bill (S. 2185) to extend the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit for an additional year. (Originally passed in 1978, the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit focuses tax incentives for employment on specific target groups found to experience high unemployment rates.) Included in the hearings is testimony provided…

Claiming that current federal educational funding formulas favor those same Sunbelt states that have recently undergone impressive economic growth, some individuals are calling for removal of per capita income factors from funding formulas in order to direct funds away from the Sunbelt and towards the northern or "Frostbelt" states.…

In the coming decade, three major developments will become important factors for change in vocational education. These are changes in the demographic profile and retirement practices, regional shifts in economic activity and in employment, and renewal of the industrial sector as a key ingredient in economic growth. Because of inflation, greater…

The largest public community college in Michigan, Macomb Community College (MCC), is located in the county that is most closely tied to Michigan's automobile industry. Because of recent high unemployment in the automobile industry, MCC must now expand its occupational offerings to meet the needs of displaced workers who must either gain new skills…

The recession has fueled calls in Congress to extend and expand unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Although UI expansion is needed in the short run, the program is also in need of more fundamental and permanent reform to transform it from an industrial era program to one that is better suited for the New Economy. Policymakers must take the…

The problems facing young people in Australia's current labor market and the effectiveness of Australia's educational system in preparing young people for the labor market were examined. Particular attention was paid to the following issues: the reshaping of work in the modern labor market; skill development in the modern labor market; the impact…

Marriage offers important social and economic benefits. Well-designed public policies could play a constructive role in helping couples develop the skills needed to develop healthy, sustainable relationships with each other and their children. It does not follow, however, that marriage promotion should be a significant component of anti-poverty…

This document summarizes the debates that occurred at a European seminar on the adaptation of workers to industrial change. The document begins with the following three speeches: "The Challenges of Adapting Workers to Industrial Change" (Dominique Balmary); "Objective 4 of the Structural Funds: A Response to the Double Challenge of…

Wisconsin's welfare reform program, which is called Wisconsin Works or W-2, emphasizes work over education. Wisconsin's welfare reform policy caused the numbers of Wisconsin welfare recipients attending college to shrink by thousands in the mid-1990s. In contrast, increasing numbers of states are coming to realize how much flexibility they really…

The impacts and cost-effectiveness of adult basic education (ABE) in Sub-Saharan Africa were examined in a review of the new generation of ABE programs in the region. African experts and other international resource persons examined documentation from recent adult literacy, numeracy, and other educational programs targeted toward individuals over…

This paper examines the personal and societal choices that will shape the kind of country Canada will become. It is argued that Canadian policymakers' current approach to work, family, and urban life is based on patterns and associations that were developed in an earlier time and no longer reflect Canadians' experiences in the 2000s. Recent trends…

This book examines trends and problems in Canadian workplaces and advocates a people-centered agenda for improving the quality of working life. Chapters 1-9 discuss the following topics: the future of work; the crisis in work; what Canadians want from work; the "new economy"; education, skills, and the knowledge economy; youth and work;…

In the era of globalization, Malaysia's ability to remain economically competitive depends on the skills of its workforce. The policies and practices of Malaysia's vocational education system must be revised to do more to give the country's disabled citizens the training they need to find employment and become taxpayers. More concerted efforts are…

The role of the social sciences and the humanities in a knowledge-based economy was examined in a comparative study of the income and employment outcomes of secondary-, postsecondary-, and graduate-level study programs in technical fields, the social sciences, and the humanities in 1991-1996. Special attention was paid to the following areas: the…

The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP) convened the Expert Workgroup on Diversity to advise the NACNEP on development of a national agenda for increasing workforce diversity. The workgroup's 18 members developed recommended goals and actions covering the following broad themes: (1) enhance efforts to increase the…