Improving the Odds

Book excerpt: The labor market has changed dramatically in recent decades. In the 1980s an average of 2 million workers each year lost their jobs because of the increasingly global economy, rapid advances in technology, and corporate downsizing. During the same period, immigration increased and Congress passed welfare reform legislation that required many more Americans to join the workforce. Legislators have looked closely at federal job training programs in recent years, and in 1998 passed the two major acts mandating change. In Improving the Odds, experts on labor policy explore the effects of current programs on earnings and employment, recommend improvements in programs, and assess the methodologies used to measure their effectiveness. The editors offer several strategies to help policymakers design programs that fulfill the promise of keeping workers out of poverty. Contents: -Publicly Funded Training in a Changing Labour Market (Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King) -The Economic, Demographic, and Social Context of Future Employment and Training Programs (Frank Bennici, Steven Mangum, and A ndrew M. Sum) -Welfare Employment Programs: Impacts and Cost-Effectiveness of Employment and Training Activities (Lisa Plimpton and Demetra Smith Nightingale) -The Impact of Job Training Partnership Act Programs for Adult Welfare Recipients (Jodi Nudelman) -Training Success Stories for Adults and Out-of-School Youth: A Tale of Two States (Christopher T. King, with Jerome A. Olson, Leslie O. Lawson, Charles E. Trott, and John Baj) -Employment and Training Programs for Out-of-School Youth: Past Effects and Lessons for the Future (Robert I. Lerman) -Customized Training for Employers: Training People for Jobs That Exist and Employers Who Want to Hire Them (Kellie Isbell, John Trutko, and vBurt S. Barnow) -Training Programs for Dislocated Workers (Duane E. Leigh) -Methodologies for Determining the Effectiveness of Training Programs (Daniel Friedlander, David H. Greenberg, and Philip K. Robins) -Reflections on Training Policies and Programs (Garth L. Mangum) -Strategies for Improving the Odds (Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King).