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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Abel, Jaison R. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York); Deitz, Richard (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | Though labor market conditions steadily improved following the Great Recession, underemployment among recent college graduates continued to climb, reaching highs not seen since the early 1990s. In this paper, we take a closer look at the jobs held by underemployed college graduates in the early stages of their careers during this period. We show that relatively few recent graduates were working in low-skilled service jobs, and that many of the underemployed worked in fairly well paid non-college jobs requiring some degree of knowledge and skill. We also find that the likelihood of being underemployed was lower for those with technically oriented and occupation-specific majors than it was for those with degrees in more general fields. Moreover, our analysis suggests that underemployment is a temporary phase for many recent college graduates as they transition to better jobs after spending some time in the labor market, particularly for those who start their careers in low-skilled service jobs. |
| Keywords: | college graduates; college major; great recession; labor market dynamics; STEM; underemployment |
| JEL: | I23 J23 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2015–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:749&r=lab |
| By: | Sneha Elango (The University of Chicago); Jorge Luis Garcia (The University of Chicago); James J. Heckman (The University of Chicago); Andres Hojman (The University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | This paper organizes and synthesizes the literature on early childhood education and childcare. In it, we go beyond meta-analysis and reanalyze primary data sources in a common framework. We consider the evidence from means-tested demonstration programs, large-scale means-tested programs and universal programs without means testing. We discuss which programs are eective and whether, and for which populations, these programs should be subsidized by governments. The evidence from high-quality demonstration programs targeted toward disadvantaged children shows bene cial eects. Returns exceed costs, even accounting for the deadweight loss of collecting taxes. When proper policy counterfactuals are constructed, Head Start has bene cial eects on disadvantaged children compared to home alternatives. Universal programs bene t disadvantaged children. |
| Keywords: | early childhood education, childcare, evaluation of social programs |
| JEL: | J13 I28 C93 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2015-017&r=lab |
| By: | Nick Buffie |
| Abstract: | By examining the historical relationship between the unemployment rate and alternative measures of labor market slack, it is determined that today’s labor market has far more slack than is typically associated with an unemployment rate of 5.0 percent. It is therefore unlikely that the economy is at or near full employment. |
| Keywords: | employment, unemployment, unemployment rate, slack, U-3 |
| JEL: | J E E2 E24 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epo:papers:2015-24&r=lab |