Black Male Youth: Their Employment Problems And Training Programs

Document Type

Paper

Publication Date

9-1-1989

Published In

Black Male Youth: Their Employment Problems And Training Programs

Series Title

Background Paper

Abstract

Employment problems of black males remain substantial. The unemployment rate for black males is 2.3 times that of white males. Less than one-third of 16- 19-year-old black males were employed in 1988. The most important policies affecting the employment of black males are monetary and fiscal policies. No employment and training policies can come close to providing the improvement in employment of black males that sustained low unemployment rates throughout the economy provide. The major replication and expansion of the Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) for in-school youth deserves support, but it is critically important that a strong evaluation component be added. Increased educational remediation was added to the Summer Youth Employment Program, with no plans to evaluate the effects of the increased remediation. For out-of-school youth, the Job Corps is a long standing program of proven effectiveness that should be maintained and expanded. Job Start, a new pilot project for dropouts in an urban, nonresidential setting, deserves support and rigorous evaluation. A study of how the employment and training system can be better related to the educational system is much needed. After more than 20 years of federal employment and training programs, very little is known about what works for whom. (A 36-item list of research notes is included in the document.) (CML)

Keywords

Blacks, Education Work Relationship, Employment Potential, Employment Problems, Federal Programs, Males, Out of School Youth, Program Effectiveness, Program Evaluation, School Business Relationship, Unemployment, Work Experience Programs, Young Adults, Youth Employment

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