Based on interviews and case records, this study of low-income older persons who hold part-time jobs fills an important gap in research about the work experiences of this segment of our population. Although part-time work for the elderly persons studied has both negative and positive consequences, the authors conclude that overall the positive aspects far outweighed the negative ones. This book makes an important contribution toward furthering our understanding of part-time jobs in general and serves as a valuable resource for knowledge about low-income elderly workers in particular.
Politicians, journalists, and the public have expressed rising concern about the decline—or percieved decline—in middle-class jobs. The U.S. work force is viewed as increasingly divided between a prosperous minority that enjoys ever-rising wages and a less affluent majority that struggles harder each year to make ends meet. To determine whether and why this view of the job market is accurate, labor market economists anaylze trends in the distribution of jobs and wages over the past two decades and attempt to forecast the future course of American earnings inequality. McKinley L. Blackburn, David E. Bloom, and Richard B. Freeman assess the reasons behind the deterioration of earnings and job opportunities among less skilled men. They consider the impact of changes in industrial structure, declines in unionization, and trends in the level and quality of schooling for men who have limited skills and education. Gary Burtless examines the effect of the business cycle, within and across different regions of the United States, on earnings inequality and analyzes the effects of demographic change on inequality over the past twenty years. Rebecca M. Blank studies the rise of part-time employment and its impact on wages, fringe benefits, and the quality of jobs. Linda Dachter Loury focuses on the effect of the baby boom and baby bust on demand for schooling among new labor market entrants. If young entrants are discouraged from seeking college training by the high cost or low payoff of schooling, the long-term impact will be a gradual decline in the skills of the U.S. work force. Robert Mofitt analyzes the effect of welfare state programs on the growth of low-wage jobs, and the extent to which the welfare reforms of the eighties have affected low-income workers.
While much attention has been focused on the rise of the modern Chinese nation, little or none has been directed at the emergence of "citizenry". This book examines thinkers from the period 1890-1920 in modern China, and shows how China might forge a modern society with a political citizenry.
This book examines changing work relationships in industrialized economies within the context of economic restructuring and demographic variables. The goal of this book is to examine experiences of industrialized economies in dealing with changing work relationships and discuss policy implications of creating such work relationships. The thesis of the book is that non-standard employment forms in restructuring economies affected all workers, but particularly females and the youth. Other demographic variables of education level, race/ethnicity/immigrant status, ability, and economic class were also underlying forces in the construction and arrangements of non-standard work. Research shows both positive and negative effects of changing work relationships on workers, though there is no conclusive result whether one or the other affect is stronger. The discussion in this book pays attention to this debate and sheds light on it. This book differs from others in its comprehensiveness of the coverage of work relationships, referring to part-time, temporary/casual, telework and self-employment without employees; in its examination of a variety of variables including gender, age, race/ethnicity/immigrant status, ability, education level, and economic class; in the analysis of the topic in relation with the economic restructuring; and in its initiative in collaboration of researchers from a variety of backgrounds and regions of the world that have expertise on changing work relationships.
The low status accorded to part-time workers in Japan has resulted in huge inequalities in the workplace. This book examines the problem in-depth using case-study investigations in Japanese workplaces, and reveals the extent of the inequality. It shows how many part-time workers, most of whom are women, are concentrated in low paid, low skilled, poorly unionised service sector jobs. Part-time workers in Japan work hours equivalent to, or greater than, full-time workers, but receive lower financial and welfare benefits than their full-time colleagues. Overall, the book demonstrates that the way part-time work is constructed in Japan reinforces and institutionalises the sexual division of labour.
This book is a provocative analysis of the nature of the relation between women and paid work in both modernizing and industrial countries. It explores the variables that shape the relationship: demographic factors, the social and cultural context, and the direction of economic development.
Contract work is more important than ever—for better or for worse, depending on one's perspective. The security once implied by a full-time job with a stable employer is becoming rarer, thereby erasing one of the major distinctions between "freelance work" and a "steady gig." Why hang on to a regular job for the sake of security if security can no longer be assumed? Instead, contractors, hired temporarily for specific knowledge and skills, market their expertise as they move from project to project. Even though their employment is precarious, a great many consider freelancing preferable to holding a "regular" job: the control they feel over their time and careers is well worth the risks that come with relatively uncertain cash flow. Freelancing Expertise is a qualitative study of decision making, work practices, and occupational processes among writers and editors who work in print and Web communications and programmers and engineers who work in software and systems development. Debra Osnowitz conducted sixty-eight extended interviews with representatives of both groups and twelve interviews with managers and recruiters, observed four different work settings in which contractors work alongside employees, and monitored blogs and online discussions among contractors. As a result, she provides a unique and sensitive assessment of a cultural shift in occupations and organizations.Osnowitz calls for a reconfiguration of the employer/employee relationship that accepts more variation and flexibility: just as "freelancing" has, over time, taken on many traits considered characteristic of traditional career paths, so might regular jobs make themselves more appealing to today's workforce by mimicking some of the positive aspects of transactions between clients and contract workers.
