Workplace Readiness: Can It Lead to Better Employment and Earnings for Low-Income Adults?

This brief,by Jacob Hartog, Sarah Wissel, Annalisa Mastri, and Kelley Borradaile discusses 19 interventions identified by the Employment Strategies for Low-Income
Adults Evidence Review (ESER) that featured workreadiness services as their primary employment or
training strategy.2 This brief describes work-readiness
interventions and their impact on employment and
earnings. It also profiles six promising interventions
and their impacts in more detail.

To read this 2016 brief, click on this link:  https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/eser_ib_workreadiness_111116_b508.pdf

The Employment Strategies for Low-Income Adults Evidence Review (ESER) is a systematic review of the literature on the impacts of employment and training programs and policies for low-income people. Sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families, ESER provides practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a transparent, systematic assessment of the quality of research evidence supporting approaches to improve the employment-related outcomes of low-income adults.

“More Unprepared Than We Thought: Adult educational attainment,” an SREB Fact Sheet

“Low-skilled workers are being left behind as technology shifts the workforce toward the middle-skills level. Educators and policymakers will need to reach these adults with education and training to fill plentiful, well-paying middle-skill jobs in their states. This [2018] fact sheet summarizes trends and state policy concerns.” – SREB (Southern Regional Education Board), November 2018

 

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2018 Funding for WIOA programs

FY 2018 omnibus released, increases funding for key workforce, education programs [in the U.S.], March  22,  2018,  by Kermit Kaqleba, Katie Spiker, and Katie Brown, National Skills Coalition.

Congressional leaders last night released final text for an omnibus spending package (click on this link to appropriations.house.gov) that is expected to finalize Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 appropriations for most federal programs. The $1.3 trillion omnibus reflects the increased spending levels for both defense and non-defense programs agreed to as part of recent legislation lifting the budget “caps” for federal discretionary spending, and includes some critical boosts in funding for key education and workforce development programs…

Importantly, the omnibus rejects many of the proposed cuts to workforce and education programs that were included in President Trump’s FY 2018 budget request, and sends a clear signal about the bipartisan support for investments in skills as the economy grows.

  Click here to read the rest of the article.

Table from Educate and Elevate.

Department of Labor: Watch and Learn Videos

NEW: The Department of Labor’s plain-language video series offers Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidance in language you don’t need a law degree to understand. While the videos target employers, they can inform adult students about labor standards in the workplace.

Click here to enter the DOL site.

To view the FLSA videos click on FLSA Videos. This is the URL to the link: https://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/videos.htm

 

Degree and Nondegree Credentials Held by Labor Force Participants

Examining the percentage of adults who have a postsecondary degree misses other types of postsecondary credentials that could be useful in the labor market, such as postsecondary certificates, occupational licenses and occupational certifications.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a new Data Point report today (March 27) entitled Degree and Nondegree Credentials Held by Labor Force Participants. This report examines the rates at which working adults have attained either a postsecondary degree or a postsecondary nondegree credential, including postsecondary certificates, occupational licenses, and occupational certifications. The report uses data from the Adult Training and Education survey, conducted as part of the 2016 National Household Education Survey (NHES) program.

Among the findings:

• Although only 45 percent of working adults have a postsecondary degree, when nondegree credentials are factored in, 58 percent of working adults have some type of postsecondary work credential.
• Among working adults who do not have a postsecondary degree, the most common nondegree credential is an occupational license.

To view the full report, please visit this link to the Data Point handout entitled Degree and Nondegree Credentials Held by Labor Force Participants or cut and paste this URL into an address bar:  http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018057.

Nonemployer Statistics–An Indicator of Virginia’s “Gig Economy”

Ann Lang, Senior Economist with the Virginia Employment Commission, wrote an article for “Economic Information & Analytics,” which attempted to provide an indication of Virginia’s “gig economy”—a much discussed but hard to define sector of the economy. This analysis is not a comprehensive look at the “gig economy” and is based solely on nonemployer statistics from the Census. Nonemployer statistics are used to gain insight into this sector of the economy, as many gig workers fit the definition of nonemployers. Click on this link to Gig Economy-NonEmployer- Article 2014-15 to read the full text.

Read an excerpt of the article’s summary below:

“Nonemployer businesses run the gamut from old-fashioned family-run corner stores to home-based bloggers,” said William Bostic Jr., the Census Bureau’s associate of for economic programs. “In some cases, the business may be the owner’s primary source of income, such as with real estate agents and physicians, but in other instances, they may operate the business as a side job, such as with babysitting and tutoring.”4

Over the 2010-2015 period, nonemployer establishments in Virginia increased by 66,149 or 13.0 percent, surpassing the national growth of 10.0 percent. While Virginia’s nonemployer firms are growing, they remain smaller in number and economic impact than traditional payroll employment, which increased by almost 200,000, or 5.6 percent. The largest gains in nonemployer establishments over the five year period occurred in transportation and warehousing; other services; professional, scientific, and technical services; and real estate and rental and leasing—all sectors that encompass service activities.

Click on this link to read the full PDF article: Gig Economy-NonEmployer- Article 2014-15

Statistics about women in the labor force

From the U.S. Census Bureau (March, 2015)

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Census Bureau released some fascinating statistics about women in the United States. But, fascinating doesn’t necessarily translate into positive.

The stats include the persistent wage gap that shows women still make just 78 cents to every dollar earned by men as well as the significant disparity of the representation of women in STEM (science technology education, and math), such as in careers like computer programmers, physicians and surgeons, lawyers and judges, police officers, and civil engineers.

These harsh inequality facts are among the reasons why many agencies and the White House [in 2015] have committed to creating more opportunities in STEM (ScienceTechnologyEngineeringMath) for women and girls.

Click on this link to the U.S. Census Bureau to the article,  FFF Women’s History Month, March 2015.