How does public transport work in an African city under neoliberalism? Who owns what in it? Who has the power to influence its shape and changes in it over time? What does it mean to be a precarious and informal worker in the private minibuses that provide public transport in Dar es Salaam? These are the main questions that inform this in-depth case study of Dar es Salaam's public transport system over more than forty years. The growth of cities and informal economies are two central manifestations of globalization in the developing world. Taken for a Ride addresses both, drawing on long-term fieldwork in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and charting its public transport system's journey from public to private provision. This new addition to the Critical Frontiers of Theory, Research and Practice in International Development Studies series investigates this shift alongside the increasing deregulation of the sector and the resulting chaotic modality of public transport. It reviews state attempts to regain control over public transport and documents how informal wage relations prevailed in the sector. The changing political attitude of workers towards employers and the state is investigated: from an initial incapacity to respond to exploitation, to the political organisation and unionisation which won workers concessions on labour rights. A longitudinal study of workers throws light on patterns of occupational mobility in the sector, and the political and economic interests that shaped the introduction of Bus Rapid Transit in Dar es Salaam, and local resistance to it are analysed. Taken for a Ride reveals the political economy of public transport, exposing the limitations of market fundamentalist and post-colonial scholarship on economic informality, the urban experience in developing countries, and the failure to locate the agency of the urban poor within their economic and political structures. It is both a contribution and a call for the contextualised study of 'actually existing neoliberalism'.

This book discusses unemployment and its relations to economic, political and social aspects. The first chapter studies the relationship of unemployment to the level of confidence that characterizes some macroeconomic relevant agents, such as consumers or investors. Chapter Two investigates the effects of productivity growth shocks on unemployment, both in the short run and in the medium - long run. Chapter Three reviews finite sample inference for unemployment-inflation tradeoff. Chapter Four focuses on understanding how the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and/or long-term labor market changes may have separately or jointly affected health among employed workers in 2010. Chapter Five evaluates the persistence of the unemployment rate in the following emerging European countries: Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Cyprus, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Chapter Six discusses the case of election results on the political aspects of unemployment. Chapter Seven studies the relationship between unemployment and the (individual) perceived levels of well-being, such as life satisfaction or happiness. Chapter Eight assesses the association between homelessness and survival in a population of unemployed individuals in one region of northern Poland. Chapter Nine studies the impact that educational level and vocational training programmes had on the labour market of semi-peripheral EU countries, using Greece as a case study. Chapter Ten estimates the effects of area unemployment rate on smoking and drinking in China.

Restoration of our national forests benefits the environment and creates jobs in rural communities. Increasing the pace of restoration of the Nation's forests is critically needed to address a variety of threats including fire, climate change, the bark beetle infestation, and others -- to the health of our forest ecosystems, watersheds, and forest-dependent communities. The Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Park Service (NPS) within the Department of the Interior have increasingly promoted landscape-scale forest restoration as a way to improve forest health. Through landscape-scale projects, agencies can treat tens or hundreds of thousands of acres, in contrast to projects commonly of under 1,000 acres. Such projects must comply with NEPA by assessing the effects of major federal actions that significantly affect the environment. This book examines the number of such projects the agencies have conducted and how they are scoped; the actions taken by agencies to track the projects' progress; successes and challenges experienced by agencies; and steps taken by agencies to help increase NEPA efficiency for such projects.

The distribution of income in the United States features heavily in congressional discussions about the middle class, program funding and effectiveness, new and existing target groups, government tax revenue, and social mobility, among other topics. Recently, the level and distribution of U.S. income have also been raised in the context of broader macroeconomic issues, such as economic growth. Accordingly, Congress has sought information on the absolute and relative experience of U.S. households, the range of incomes, and their dispersion. This book is a guide to various measures, indicators, and graphics commonly used to describe the U.S. income distribution. It examines the complexities of income measurement, outlines important definitional and data considerations to bear in mind when using and interpreting income statistics, and reviews descriptive statistics commonly used in analysis. It also discusses the Gini index, a popular summary measure of income dispersion and an appendix presents information on additional summary indicators of income dispersion reported annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. This book also examines changes over time and across countries in the shape of the income distribution to afford Members of Congress a broader perspective when deliberating such policy issues as the progressivity of income tax rates, the generosity of social insurance programs, and the level of the minimum wage.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938, is the federal legislation that establishes the general minimum wage that must be paid to all covered workers. While the FLSA mandates broad minimum wage coverage, states have the option of establishing minimum wage rates that are different from those set in it. Under the provisions of the FLSA, an individual is generally covered by the higher of the state or federal minimum wage. This book begins with a discussion of FLSA minimum wage coverage. It provides a summary of state minimum wage laws; and an examination of rates and mechanisms of adjustments in states with minimum wage levels above the FLSA rate.

Young adults in the United States have experienced higher rates of unemployment and lower rates of labour force participation than the general population for at least two decades. The Great Recession exacerbated this phenomenon. Despite a substantial labor market recovery from 2009 through 2014, vulnerable populations -- including the nation's young adults -- continue to experience higher rates of unemployment. Meanwhile, changes in labour market conditions, including globalisation and automation, have reduced the availability of well-paid, secure jobs for less-educated persons, particularly those jobs that provide opportunity for advancement. Furthermore, data suggest that young workers entering the labour market are affected by a long-running increase in the use of "contingent" work arrangements, characterised by contracted, part-time, temporary, and seasonal work. This book summarises insights from the Survey of Young Workers and related research in the field; and it frames policy and research issues for future consideration by the Federal Reserve Board and others interested in young workers.

How can federal programs support low-income and low-skilled individuals find and keep employment? Searching for a job is a universal experience for nearly all Americans, but for some low-income and low-skilled individuals, job search may be especially difficult. To support these individuals as they look for employment, many federal programs offer short-term and relatively low-intensity services, known as job search assistance. This book describes an overarching framework for thinking about job search assistance programs, including an overview of service delivery methods, key program components, and the steps that make up the job search process. This book also reviews research related to the relative effectiveness of various job search methods and the components of job search assistance (JSA) programs, including federally-funded programs. The book provides an overview of current JSA programs and the existing literature related to JSA, with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged workers and heads of households.

Job satisfaction is a central concept in work and organizational psychology as it is associated with important individual as well as organizational outcomes. Work is the number one activity that occupies most of adults' waking time. Being satisfied with one's job, which is defined as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experience, is related to important work-related and health-related outcomes (e.g., higher job performance, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, life satisfaction, lower absenteeism and lower counterproductive work behavior). This book discusses determinants of job satisfaction as well as workplace implications and the impact job satisfaction has on the psychological well-being of individuals.

Women's participation in labor force activities has greatly expanded since the end of World War II. Immediately following the war, less than one-third of women were in the labour force. However, women soon began to participate in greater numbers, and their labor force participation rose rapidly from the 1960s through the 1980s before slowing in the 1990s. By 1999, women reached the peak of their labor force participation, 60 percent. Since then, however, labor force participation among women has declined. Nonetheless, women's labor force participation remains relatively high by historical standards, particularly among women with children, and a large share of women work full time and year round. This book presents historical and recent labor force and earnings data for women and men from the Current Population Survey (CPS). It examines statistical data and a view of female self-employment of working women in the United States.

In 2008, the U.S. economy collided with two historic forces. The first force was the Great Recession, the most severe economic crisis in a generation. While the economy has recovered considerably over the last five years, there is little doubt that more work remains to address some of the challenges left in the wake of the Great Recession. This book analyses the evolution of the labour force participation rate since late 2007 and attempts to quantify the effects of these various forces.

Youth Unemployment and Vocation Training focuses on the creation of good jobs for the young. The first part reviews the main factors influencing youth unemployment and the transition into the work force, bringing together evidence on demographic issues, economic growth and their interaction with institutions. Stressing the difference between general education and vocational education and training, the authors differentiate between four types of education and outline differences in the skills they convey, their places of learning and their transferability across occupations and firms. The second section provides an overview of young people's situations in major world regions, with a particular emphasis on the role of training systems and complementary active labor market policies. The authors adopt a broad understanding of regional clusters reflecting similar challenges with respect to youth unemployment on the one hand and institutional factors influencing the situation of young people on the other. Youth Unemployment and Vocation Training concludes by reviewing the most pressing policy challenges in different world regions and providing policy recommendations. The authors argue in favor of promoting vocational education and training tailored to labor market needs, all the while taking into account specific conditions found in a given national or local context. While good education and training can contribute to economic productivity and social cohesion, vocational education and on-the-job training with young workers and companies also need to involve governments, social partners or other societal actors in order to be stable and effective. Given major differences in the institutional setup in different parts of the world, the authors present options for implementing vocational training under largely differing economic and institutional conditions.

Workers' compensation insurance covers nearly all workers in the U.S. and provides those who are injured or become ill as a result of work with medical treatment, a portion of lost wages, and a lump sum for some permanent impairments. Nonetheless, there are limitations to conducting studies that rely on workers' compensation records since not all injuries and illnesses result in claims being filed. Furthermore, the data that are collected are not readily combined if obtained from multiple sources since requirements vary substantially among the states. This book was written to help describe elements of the workers' compensation insurance programs in the U.S. and the potential to utilise the records for public health purposes. This book also focuses on several key policy issues facing the program, including the disproportionate share of claims and program costs attributed to postal workers, the payment of FECA benefits after retirement age, the overall level of FECA disability benefits as compared with those offered by the states, and the administration of the FECA program.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 established the hourly minimum wage rate at 25 cents for covered workers. Since then, it has been raised 22 separate times, in part to keep up with rising prices. The minimum wage is not indexed to the price level. It has been legislatively increased from time to time to make up for the loss in its real value caused by inflation. This book discusses the federal minimum wage; inflation and the effect it has on minimum wage; the effects on employment and family income of an increase of minimum-wage; and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is the federal legislation that establishes the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to all covered workers.

The economy is recovering from the recession, but employers are still having difficulty filling certain jobs. The Department of Labor's (DOL) Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult and Dislocated Worker programs are designed to help jobseekers find employment and to help employers find the skilled workers they need. This book addresses how local workforce areas have identified occupations that are in demand and how they have guided participants toward training for them; and what challenges local workforce areas have faced in helping employers fill certain jobs.

High fertility and declining mortality rates have led to a very young population in most Sub-Saharan African countries. The region s labor force is expected to increase by 11 million people per year over the next 10 years. Most of this increase will be new entrants seeking their first job. While the younger generation is better educated than their parents, they often lack the means to translate that education into productive employment. Today, most work is in nonwage jobs on farms and in household enterprises. Even if greater economic activity were to create the conditions for robust growth and economic transformation, the private modern wage sector in low- and lower-middle-income countries could not absorb all the applicants. This report focuses on how to improve the quality of all jobs and to meet the aspirations of youth. It emphasizes that building a strong foundation for human capital development can play an important role in boosting earnings, and it argues that a balanced approach focused on building skills, raising productivity, and increasing the demand for labor is necessary. Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa notes that many youth employment challenges are problems of employment in general. However, youth is a time of transition, and young people face particular constraints to accessing productive work. The report brings together original analysis of household and labor force surveys; it reviews the experience of a number of promising interventions across the continent; it draws from qualitative studies in several countries; and it surveys the most up-to-date evidence from rigorous evaluations of policies and programs. From this information base, the report provides guidance to policy makers on how to intervene along two dimensions human capital and the business environment and in three priority areas agriculture, household enterprises, and the modern wage sector. The ultimate goals are to increase productivity, improve livelihoods, and multiply opportunities for young people."

There is little doubt that significant income inequality persists across as well as within countries, and that wage differential exists between male and female workers across the industries and within establishments. The differences in earnings not only affect the well-being of the current generation but also have major long-term impacts on health, education and skill formation of future generations. Although an important goal of a country is to improve the well-being of their workers, the ways to achieve this goal may differ. This book presents recent research on labour economics, addressing issues such as gender wage gap, regional wage disparity, inter-and intra-industry wage inequality, the wage effects of immigration and the effects of wage negotiations in organisations. There are three parts in this book. Part A contains five chapters addressing the issue of gender wage gap. Part B also contains five chapters on regional studies to show the effects on wage, skill formation and the correlation between public and private sector employment. Part C focuses on wage negotiations in organisations. The book provides several important insights into many contemporary labour market issues.

Many recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other low-income individuals find or keep jobs for a while, but far fewer remain steadily employed, advance in the labor market, or earn wages that lift their families out of poverty. To address these issues, a number of initiatives have aimed to help low-wage workers stay employed and move up in the labour market. Several such programs, trying different strategies, were studied as part of a multiyear, multisite evaluation called the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project. This book examines the ERA program which outlines a few strategies that succeeded in improving individuals' employment retention and earnings as well as strategies that did not. Key findings and lessons are detailed.

Veterans' employment outcomes in the civilian sector are an issue of ongoing congressional interest that has received particular attention during the current period of relatively high unemployment. A number of programs currently exist to assist veterans in obtaining or training for civilian employment. There is regular congressional debate about expanding or otherwise amending these programs to better serve veterans. This book discusses veterans' employment trends and programs with a focus on leveraging military service and experience to put veterans and military spouses back to work; veterans benefits; the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program for veterans; and the SBA Veterans Assistance Program.

The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making the past three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in this country since the Great Depression. Such persistently high unemployment has wide-ranging repercussions. It places financial, psychological, and even physical strains on people who are unable to find work and on their families as well; it places budgetary pressures on the federal government and on state and local governments, as tax revenues decline and expenditures increase; and it results in a long-term erosion of skills that will reduce the nation's productivity and people's income in the future. This book examines a broad array of policy approaches designed to reduce unemployment. Some of those policies would aim to boost the economy and demand for goods and services, reflecting the fact that the increase in unemployment in particular in general and long-term unemployment in particular is primarily attributable to weak demand for labour, which in turn, is the result of weak aggregate demand.

This book explores the possible economic implications of large shifts in the supply of foreign-born, hired farm labour that could result from substantial changes in U.S. immigration laws or policies. Hired labour is an important input to U.S. agricultural production, accounting for about 17 percent of variable production expenses and about 40 percent of such expenses for fruit, vegetables, and nursery products. Over the past 15 years, roughly half of the hired labourers employed in U.S. crop agriculture have lacked the immigration status needed to work legally in the United States. Thus, changes in immigration laws or policies could lead to markedly different economic outcomes in the agricultural sector and the market for hired farm labour. The same is generally true for other economic sectors that rely on large numbers of unauthorised workers.

Presenting results of original research as well reviewing and synthesizing existing studies, the publication provides an in-depth analysis of Sri Lanka's youth unemployment. The analysis follows the "4Es" conceptual framework by focusing on four key labor market aspects: employment creation, employability, entrepreneurship, and equal opportunity. In each of these areas, the publication describes main outcomes and trends, analyzes key issues, and proposes policy recommendations: Among obstacles to employment creation, the publication singles out restrictive labor market institutions that contribute to perverse labor incentives (including waiting for public sector jobs) and to labor market duality, thereby pushing workers to worse paying and also otherwise less attractive informal sector jobs. The analysis of employability shows that education system provides skills more suited for public sector, and that transition from university to work is difficult for most, with social status and the field of study, among others, determining the timing and type of employment obtained by graduates. The chapter on entrepreneurship shows that relatively few young Sri Lankan have access to training and have financial resources available to start their own enterprises, and that the prevailing social culture also represents an obstacle. In the area of equal opportunity, the volume documents the existence of a gender wage gap that cannot be explained by "productive" characteristics of workers, as young women in Sri Lanka have better characteristics than men, but are underpaid, in all sectors and among all ethnic groups, and it claims that a system of job rationing is partly based on class-based skills and social assets, putting young people from rural backgrounds at disadvantage. The volume also discusses psychological stresses and other consequences on youth of the decades of violence, including long-lasting ethnic conflict.

For the majority of employees in the US and elsewhere, their job is by far their most important property; with jobs providing not only a principal source of wealth, but also being a key source of social status and individual psychological well-being. While the US political system provides extensive protection to capital, it paradoxically offers only very limited protection to labour. This lack of protection is evidenced, above all, by the fact that the protection afforded to US workers against unfair, capricious or unnecessary dismissals is amongst the weakest of all industrialised nations. The primary agenda of this book is to map out the institutional choices, which have prevented the comprehensive, European-style, regulation of dismissal in the United States; and to explore how these choices have been supported, modified and maintained against attempts by US workers to secure greater job security. This book examines the issue dismissals and job security in a roughly historical order.

Employment is the highest priority for many people with severe mental illness and it is a central aspect of recovery. Over the past two decades, the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment has emerged as the prominent evidence-based approach to vocational rehabilitation. This comprehensive monograph synthesizes the research and experience on IPS supported employment: historical context, core principles, effectiveness, long-term outcomes, non-vocational outcomes, cost-effectiveness, generalizability, fidelity, implementation, policy, and future research. A collaboration of the top researchers in the area, this book will have broad appeal to professionals and researchers working with populations with psychiatric disabilities and in community mental health and social service settings. In tracing the evolution of IPS, readers are equipped with an elegant example of the transition from needs assessment, to model development, to testing, and to dissemination.

Over the past decade, Egyptian women have made significant progress in improving their economic and social status. The government s commitment to women s empowerment is strong at the highest political levels. Yet continued disparities remain in the country s labor market and in the business arena. 'Egyptian Women Workers and Entrepreneurs' analyzes these disparities and makes recommendations for needed change to ensure a level playing field. This groundbreaking book brings together data and extensive evidence on barriers to women s entry into business in Egypt and makes the case for actions to ensure gender equality. This book is based on a study that the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and Ministry of Manpower and Migration, and the National Council for Women requested to assist in analyzing the factors that influence women s low participation rate in economic activities, including the labor market and entrepreneurship. 'Egyptian Women Workers and Entrepreneurs' aims to fill the significant research gap on these subjects in Egypt as well as to provide suggestions to address continued gender inequalities. This book will be useful for donors, nongovernmental organizations, and researchers working to address gender barriers."

The unemployment rate has greatly increased since the onset of the recession in December 2007, when it measured 5.0%. The rate peaked at 10.1% in October 2009, four months after the recession's official end. Almost two years into the economic recovery, the unemployment rate remains high, at just under 9.0%, and remains of concern to policymakers. This book assesses the relative magnitudes of cyclical and structural unemployment as they have different implications for policymakers. An analysis of changes between 2007 and 2010 in a variety of labour markets indicators across industries, finds patterns that strongly suggest most of the 5 percentage point increase in the U.S. unemployment rate is cyclical and due to depressed aggregate demand.