Jobs for the Future announces Advancement for Low-Wage Workers, a new publication
series designed to elevate discussion of an issue critical to
the nation.
“Across our country, there is a crisis among many families
and individuals who lack the basic skills necessary to move into
family-supporting employment,” says JFF President Marlene
B. Seltzer. “Even those working full-time jobs too often
still find themselves unable to provide for the basic needs of
their families—food, shelter, clothing, transportation,
and medical care.”
Seltzer points to data that show the hardship of many families,
as they find themselves working full time at minimum wage jobs
and earning incomes well below the federal poverty level. More
than nine million working Americans—25 percent of whom work
full time, year round—earn less than the official poverty
level. More than 40 million Americans earn below 200 percent of
the poverty level, a widely accepted proxy for a minimum family
sustainable income.
“This is a problem that affects American business and
the health of the nation,” notes Jerry Rubin, JFF Vice President,
Building Economic Opportunity. “When the economy recovers,
the labor shortages of the late 1990s will return, fueled by rising
skill requirements at all segments of the labor market, the retirement
of the baby boomers, a relatively small number of people entering
the labor force for the first time, and a rising proportion of
less-educated and less-skilled low-wage workers in the workforce.”
Rubin, who authored the series introduction, The Next Challenge, explains that Jobs for the Future’s
approach to workforce development is built upon three premises.
First, work is the key to escaping dependency and improving one’s
life. Second, full-time work should generate enough income to
keep a family out of poverty. And third, with the proper design
and incentives, employers, government, and advocates for the poor
can have a common interest in skill development strategies that
place not just employment but also advancement at the center of
employment and training policy.
JFF’s priorities, says Rubin, are around the power and
importance of skill-development strategies as vehicles for long-term,
sustainable career advancement for low-income workers. “Our
mission is to understand and promote the best of these strategies
and program models—and to accelerate a rethinking of policy
and practice so that these approaches become the rule rather than
the exception.”
Elaborating upon these themes, the papers in JFF’s Advancement
Series address public policy and on-the-ground practice.
Publications - The Advancement Series
The Next Challenge: Advancing Low-Skilled, Low-Wage Workers, the series introduction, argues for placing advancement at the
center of employment and training policy. It defines career advancement
as a goal, explores key challenges and opportunities, and highlights
strategies to help significantly more low-skill workers move up
to better jobs and family-supporting earnings.
Career Ladders: A Guidebook for Workforce Intermediaries, available on CD-ROM, provides information on planning, developing,
operating, and expanding the role of intermediaries in an approach
central to many advancement strategies. The guide includes extensive
resources and summarizes lessons learned from innovative work
across the country.
Earning While Learning: Maintaining Income While Upgrading
Skills reviews “what works” in providing workers
and job seekers with income even as they improve their ability
to advance in the labor market and meet employer needs for a modern
workforce.
Employer-Led Organizations and Career Ladders reviews
key elements and processes involved in creating career ladders
that meet employers’ needs for a workforce with the right
skills and low-wage, low-skilled workers’ needs for advancement
opportunities.
Low Wage Workers in the New Economy describes the extent
and contours of the challenge facing our nation’s working
poor. An impressive line-up of experts looks at how federal and
state governments can help the men and women for whom the American
Dream remains out of reach.
Opportunity in Tough Times: Promoting Advancement for Low-Wage
Workers draws on extensive interviews with innovative state
officials and practitioners to describe ways to maintain efforts
to advance low-wage workers in the face of exceedingly difficult
conditions.
Workforce Intermediaries and Their Roles in Promoting Advancement explores the origins and core elements of workforce intermediaries,
their strategies for advancing workers to family-sustaining careers,
and the challenge of securing financing to sustain intermediary
services and expand them to a scale that makes a real difference
to communities.
Getting Ahead: A Survey of Low-Wage Workers on Opportunities
for Advancement, Public Views on Low Wage Workers in the Current
Economy, and A National Survey of American Attitudes
About Low-Wage Workers and Welfare Reform: JFF periodically
commissions surveys of and about low-wage work in America.
###
Jobs for the Future seeks to
accelerate the educational and economic advancement of youth and
adults struggling in today's economy. JFF partners with leaders
in education, business, government, and communities around the
nation to: strengthen opportunities for youth to succeed in postsecondary
learning and high-skill careers; increase opportunities for low-income
individuals to move into family-supporting careers; and meet the
growing economic demand for knowledgeable and skilled workers.
For more information about Jobs for the Future, please visit the
Web site at www.jff.org.
Click here to go back
