Sex differences in occupational skill: Canada, 1961–1986

Cet étude, basée sur les données du recensement canadien, examine la ségrégation occupationelle et les différences dues au genre dans la distribution d'habileté professionnelle entre les annees 1961 et 1986. L'apprentissage à long terme à de niveaux supérieurs d'habileté professionnelle caractérise autant le marché du travail féminin que masculin. Cependant, la magnitude de cet apprentissage est plus grande pour les femmes que pour les hommes, notamment entre les années 1981 et 1986 lorsque la distribution des habiletés professionnelles des hommes à changés très peu. En dépit de la direction de ces changements, il est peu probable que les femmes se retrouvent dans les occupations à niveaux supérieurs d'habileté comparé aux hommes. La main d'oeuvre féminine se retrouve done aux niveaux moyens d'habileté professionnelle comparéà la main d'oeuvre masculine, et ceci est en grande partie attribuéà la concentration féminine dans les occupations de bureau inférieures. Quand la comparaison entre les femmes et les hommes se limite à l'intérieur des niveaux de travail comme le travail de bureau, le travail ouvrier et le travail dans les secteurs de service, la tendance de retrouver les femmes dans les niveaux inferieurs d'habileté professionnelle devient plus prononcée. Using Canadian census data, this study examines occupational segregation and sex differences in the distribution of skill between 1961–1986. Skill upgrading over time characterizes both the female and male labour force. However, the magnitude of skill upgrading is larger for women than men, particularly between 1981 and 1986 when the skill distributions of men change very little. Despite these upgrading trends, women are less likely to be in higher skilled occupations than are men. Instead, the female labour force more than the male labour force is found in the middle levels of skill, largely as the result of their concentration in lower white collar occupations. When comparisons are made within white collar, blue collar and service sectors, the employment of women in less skilled occupations becomes far more evident.     

Poverty among Working Families: New Insights from an Improved Poverty Measure

Objective . This article examines poverty among working families with children using a refined experimental poverty measure based on recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance. Methods . Using data from the 1998 Current Population Survey, this research constructs an experimental poverty measure that takes into account noncash government benefits as well as job-related expenses, elements not included in the current official measure of family income. Results . We find that current statistics based on the official poverty line understate the extent of economic hardship, particularly among full-time working families with children, because expenses, such as child care costs, tend to outweigh noncash benefits, such as food stamps, that these families may receive. Furthermore, without the recent expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, poverty among full-time working families would be even higher. Conclusions . These findings highlight challenges faced by many families, especially those with adults moving off welfare and into the labor market.     

Workforce localization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: issues and challenges

Despite some progress, the issue of equality at work remains more of an aspiration than achievement for organizations in developed economies across the world. In the UK, the debate on equality at work has been rekindled with a Labour government taking office, in 1997, with a commitment to equality generally and for women specifically. Fuelling the debate is the notion of managing diversity, which has emanated from the USA in recent years. This article seeks to explore the current nature of equality at work in the UK and gauge if managing diversity is in any way manifest in current organizational approaches to equality management. The exploration is rooted in four case-study organizations and is conducted through the lens of key organizational stakeholders. Beyond exposing the contemporary nature of equality at work in the case-study organizations, the empirical work allows the issues involved in the implementation of managing diversity in the UK context to be signalled.     

Costs and distortion of U.S. regulation policy in intercoastal lumber shipping

This article quantitatively analyzes the various impacts of current U.S. coastal restrictions on the Northwest lumber industry. The history of U.S. maritime regulation is briefly reviewed and a simulation model is developed to measure its affect on lumber shipments and transport costs. The results of the model indicate that aggregate cost redutions obtained through deregulation are likely to be small. The pattern of intercoastal shipments could change a great deal, however, with U.S. producers picking up a large share of the Northeast market.     

They can go home again!

A pilot project demonstrates that a carefully designed program encompassing training of foster parents, use of volunteers, community support and full commitment by foster care workers can produce permanent homes for youngsters.     

People,Pipelines, and Probabilities: Clarifying Significance and Uncertainty in Environmental Impact Assessments

Determinations of significance play a pivotal role in environmental impact assessments because they point decision makers to the predicted effects of an action most deserving of attention and further study. Impact predictions are always subject to uncertainty because they rely on estimates of future consequences. Yet uncertainty is often neglected or treated in a perfunctory manner as part of the characterization, evaluation, and communication of anticipated consequences and their significance. Proposals to construct fossil fuel pipelines in North America provide a highly visible example; casual treatment of how uncertainty affects significance determinations has resulted in poorly informed stakeholders, frustrated industry proponents, and inconsistent choices on the part of public decision makers. Using environmental assessments for recent pipeline proposals as examples, we highlight five ways in which uncertainty is often neglected when determining impact significance and suggest that a mix of known methods, new guidelines, and appropriate oversight could greatly improve current practices.     

Urbanization, Disadvantage, and Petty Entrepreneurship: Street Peddling among African American Men in Southern and Northern Cities during the Early Twentieth Century

Two theories attempt to explain why minority groups are often involved in small-scale entrepreneurial activities. The urban adjustment hypothesis holds that when such groups urbanize, their members establish themselves economically through self-employment in pursuits that require little start-up capital. The disadvantage theory argues that exclusion from the labor market impels members of oppressed groups to become self-employed in marginal enterprises. Applying these theories, I use census data to analyze the participation of African American men in street peddling during the pre-World War II era. Consistent with the urban adjustment hypothesis, the involvement of African American men in street peddling increased markedly when African Americans urbanized during the period from 1890 to 1940. Consistent with disadvantage theory, the involvement of African American men in street peddling was positively associated with labor market disadvantage. Finally, in southern cities, African American men were overrepresented in street peddling, a finding that suggests that these men had a niche in the petty-trading sector of the South's informal economy.