Publications - John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development

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Working Papers

Black Workers Need More than an Economic Boom

2005-03-22

This paper looks at the reasons the absolute and relative gains that African Americans made during the 1990s economic boom were both less than hoped for and fragile in the period of economic decline that followed. The paper also looks at the public policies that would be necessary to sustain the gains that African Americans are likely to make during the next economic expansion.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Black Workers

Food Security and the Federal Minimum Wage

2004-10-29

This working paper, by William M. Rodgers III, Hanley S. Chiang, and Bruce W. Klein, estimates the extent to which increases in the U.S. federal minimum wage in October 1996 and September 1997 improved the ability of households to be food secure -- that is, to purchase for their members an adequate supply of nutritional and safe foods. First, the authors show that the two increases significantly altered the hourly wage distribution of householders (principal person in a household). The shifts were greatest among household heads that are minority, single parents, and household heads with no more than a high school diploma. Even after controlling for the link between the 1990s economic expansion and food security, the October 1996 and September 1997 increases in the federal minimum wage raised food security and reduced hunger, particularly in low-income households where householders had completed no more than a high school degree or were a single parent.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Food Security

Forecasting the Labor Market Prospects of Low-Skilled Americans

2005-03-22

This paper forecasts the post-recession labor market experiences of less-skilled men and women. It uses empirical relationships and the Bush Administration’s 2004 and 2005 forecasts of the national unemployment rate to predict the employment-population ratios, employment rates, and labor force participation rates of Americans with the least skills. It also describes the econometric models estimated in the paper; presents estimates of the relationship between aggregate demand and the participation, employment, and unemployment of young non-enrolled Americans and 10-year forecasts of their labor market outcomes; and discusses findings and their implications.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Labor Market Prospects

Male White-Black Wage Gaps, 1979-1994: A Distributional Analysis

2005-09-07

This paper examines whether the general growth in wage inequality that occurred during the 1980s explains the growth in the white-black wage gap. The paper develops a skill-specific decomposition that measures inequality growth's contribution to the wage gap's growth among white and black men with similar skill levels. The paper shows that if general wage inequality growth is an important contributor to the overall wage gap's growth during the 1980s, its greatest impact is among middle and upper skilled workers. For racial wage gaps among young high school and college graduates, the contribution of general wage inequality growth is greatest among those whites and blacks with the least and greatest skills.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Male White-Black Wage Gaps

Steady as She Goes

2009-11-09

This study finds that U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever before. Contrary to fears expressed by educators and employers, American students have not wavered in their interest in science and math studies over the past 30 years.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Steady as She Goes? Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline

Steady as She Goes? Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline

2009-10-26

This study finds that U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever before. Contrary to fears expressed by educators and employers, American students have not wavered in their interest in science and math studies over the past 30 years.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Steady as She Goes

The Impact of Monetary Policy on the Distribution and Type of Unemployment

2004-10-29

This working paper by William M. Rodgers III employs two widely used approaches to estimate the effects of monetary policy on seven measures of unemployment. Evidence from recursive vector autoregressions and autoregressive distributed lag models that use information on the Federal Reserve’s contractionary initiatives indicate that the weeks of unemployment distribution (e.g., less than five weeks) is significantly altered. The number of unemployed increases at all segments of the distribution. However, as a share of total unemployment, the increase is greatest among those with 15 weeks of unemployment or more. The number of job losers on both temporary and permanent layoff rise, with over two-thirds of the increase among permanent job losers. The number of reentrants into the labor force, new entrants, and part-time workers that become unemployed also rises. The share of the unemployed that are job losers rises, while the shares of reentrant, new entrant, and part-time workers that become unemployed falls.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Monetary Policy

The Pitfalls of Using a Child Support Schedule Based on Outdated Data

2005-03-22

A strong rationale for updating child support guidelines arises from changes over time in the measurement of expenditures on children, as well as changes in the empirical relationship between expenditures on children and the income of parents. Such changes affect the accuracy of the numerics upon which states’ child support guidelines are based. This study evaluates an alternative child support guideline that was proposed for Virginia and draws lessons for other states that similarly base their guidelines on older survey data. Regression results show that over time, the child expenditure and household income relationship has changed considerably. Furthermore, the largest increases in expenditures attributable to children have occurred for lower- and middle-income households.

Publication Type: Working Papers

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Child Support Pitfalls

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	About the Center \| Publications \| For the Media \| Contact Us © 2009 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, All rights reserved. John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy 30 Livingston Avenue New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Phone: (732) 932-4100 For information or comments contact hcwd@rci.rutgers.edu

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