xt7vdn3zwn81 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vdn3zwn81/data/mets.xml Payne, Stanley Le Baron, 1911-  Payne, Stanley Le Baron, 1911- 1940 20 leaves 27 cm. UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call Number: Y 3.W 89/2:13/1-25 books  English Washington: Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration, Division of Research  This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Works Progress Administration Employment Publications Youth with social disabilities -- Employment -- United States Disadvantaged Youth on the Labor Market, 1940 text Disadvantaged Youth on the Labor Market, 1940 1940 1940 2021 true xt7vdn3zwn81 section xt7vdn3zwn81 w D l SA DVA N TAG E D
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 +1 LABOR MARKET

 

 FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY

John M. Carmody, Administrator

WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
F. C. Harrington, Commissioner

Corrington Gill, Assistant Commissioner

DIVISION OF RESEARCH

Howard B. Myers, Director

DISADVANTAGED YOUTH ON THE LABOR MANKET

by

Stanley L. Payne

Under the direction of
John N. Wehb

Chief, Social Research Section

Washington

1940

 

 This report has been prepared at the
request of the American Youth Commission
of the American Council on Education for
use in its forthcoming report on problems
ofyouth.employment and unemployment.
Further and more comprehensive reports

based on the Survey of Youth in the Labor
Market are in preparation in the Division
of Research of the Work Projects Adminis~
tration.

 

  

 

A1215

DISADVANTAGED YOUTH ON THE LABOR MARKET

The young and the old worker are much more subject to unené
ployment than is the worker of middle years. This selective feature
of unemployment has become almost axiomatic. The young worker is
handicapped by his lack of experience; while the old worker finds
that experience does not always offset his handicap of advancing age.
In addition to age, there are other selective factors such as occué
pation, color, and sex, that come into operation when there are more
job seekers than jobs.

A highly important outcome of these selective processes,
when long continued, is the segregation of one group of unemployed
by reason of the fact that they are passed over again and again when
jobs are filled. The duration of their unemployment increases, and
the likelihood of their finding work decreases, with the passage of
time.

This segregated group is frequently referred to as the
"hard core" of unemployment. The aptness of this designation needs
no discussion; its accuracy does. More or less by default, it
has become a synonym for "long-time” unemployed. But the two terms
are not so readily interchangeable. It is generally true that the
"hard core" unemployed arc to be found among the long—time unemé
ployed; but the long—time unemployed are not necessarily "hard core".
More than long duration of unemployment is involved in the overtones
of meaning surrounding the term; there is a clear implicatior of worh¥
er deterioration and demoralization, both as ruse and effect. Fure

thermore, the probability of continued unemployment, at least as long

 

  

A1215

_ g _

as general employment conditions remain unchhnged, is understood in
this term, but it is not necessarily true of all he long—time uné
employed.

'he dangers inherent in this confusion of teims are nowhere
more apparent than among new workers. Each year somewhere in the
neighborhood of two million youth enterthe labor market for the
first time. Their "exposure” to unemployment begins with their
entrance. Eot until their labor market participation had lengthened
into years would it be possible to distinguish a "hard core" among
them. By that time they would no longer be new workers.

Leaving aside, then, the question of "hard core,” the fact
remains that among the new worker group some youth have much more
difficulty than others in finding employment. This disadvantaged group
can be identified by the high amount of unemployment they have experienced
in relationship to the length of time that they have been in the labor
market.

The fact that such a group exists tells nothing about their
characteristics in comparison with new workers whoapparently find
little difficulty getting started in productive activity. It is the
purpose of this report, therefore, to inquire into the characteristics
of the disadvantaged new worker, that is, the_rglgti3§ly long~time

unemployed.

Source of Information. In the summer and fall of 1938 in seven widely
scattered cities l/more than 50,000 youth whose names had been

selected at random from lists of eighth grade g‘aduatcs of 1929, 1931,

 

1/ Binghamton, New York; Birmingham, Alabama; Denver, Colorado; Duluth,
Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; San Francisco, California; and
Seattle, Washington.

 

  

 

 

A1215
_ 3 _

and 1935, were interviewed in a survey conducted by the WPA Division
of Research. In July 1938 the average ages of the youthiiithese
three classes were approximately 23 years, 21 years, and 19 years,

respectively.

Employment and Unemployment. A large majority of the youth from

 

each of the three eighth grade classes were in the labor market on
July 1, 1958, the last date included in the survey: almost 21,000 of
the 80,000 youth interviewed either held jobs or were making active
efforts to find work on that date. All degrees of labor market par?
ticipation were represented — from those older individuals who had
set out to find work as soon as they completed the eighth grade in
1929 to these youth of all ages who had remained in school and had
not joined the labor supply until as late as June 1938.

About 4,000, or 19 percent, of these 21,000 urban youth
were unemployed on July 1, 1938. Most of the 4,000 without private
employment were making an active search for work; a few had jobs
from which they were temporarily laid off.

But the fact that they were unemployed on this one date
does not mean that all of these youth areto be included in what,
for want of a better term, will be called the "disadvantaged” group.
Some who had just recently entered the labor market, for example,
had scarcely had a chance to look for work. Others had fairly long
records of employment behind them and could hardly be considered
disadvantaged by reason of unemployment at the moment.

Nor should all the youth who were employed on this one date

he assumed to be without disadvantages. Some who happened to be at

 

  

 

A1215
_ 4 _

work on July 1 had been unemployed throughout most of their labor
market lives 4 they had found occasional jobs but had never found
steady employment. Others after unusually long periods of seeking
work had only recently found the jobs on which they were employed.
Although they were working at the moment, they had clearly been at
a disadvantage in finding that work.

Yotth who had spent several months or years in the labor
market most of the time Without work had shown themselves to be at
a disadvantage. Whatever their employment status on a given date
may have been, they had had a disproportionate share of unemployment

over a long period.

Disadvantaged Youth. To make certain that only youth who were
truly disadvantaged would be included in the "disadvantaged group”
this strict definition was adopted: The "disadvantaged group" is

made up of those young workers who by July 1938 had been unemployed

at least 5 percent of their total time in the labor market and who

 

in addition had a minimum amount of unemployment of 12 monthsgg/

 

This definition includes some youth who got their first jobs
immediately on entering the labor market but who had later been
unemployed for a considerable period as well as some who never had
found a job at all. It includes young Workers who had steady employ?

ment on Ju y l, 1938 but who had earlier been unemployed for long

~ This means of course that one year in the labor market was also

a minimum requirement. Actually, most of the youth included had
more than one year’s labor market status. The one year minimum

of unemployment was adopted to exclude youth who had been uncnh
ployed 50 percent or more of their time but who had been in the
labor market too short a time for the percentage to be significant.

 

  

 

A1215

_ 5 _
periods; and it includes youtnwhohad.been employed off and on
since they left school but who had never found steady work. The
strictness of the definition insures that only youth who for one
reason or another had had markedly less than average success in
inding employment were included.

Under this definition 2,096 youth were included in the
disadvantaged group making up approximately 10 percent of the
20,947 youth who were in the labor market at the end of the survey
in these seven cities. This proportion of 10 disadVantaged youth in
every 100 youth in the labor market may be kept in mind as a reference
point in many comparisons that follow in this report.

The extent of the handicaps of the disadvantaged group

may be seen in the amount of time they had spent in the labor

 

 

 

 

market:
Among disadvantaged youth The average (mean) time
who were members of the: spent in the labor market
by July 1, 1958, was:
Oldest class (1929) 64 months
Middle class (1931) 47 months
Youngest class (1935) 35 months

One of every four disadvantaged youth in the three classes
combined had been in the labor market 5 years or longer. As all
these youth had been without work at least half of the time, the

unpropitious beginnings of their labor market careers are clearly

evident.

Types of Disadvantage. About 18 percent of the youth in the

 

disadvantaged group had never had a job involving as much as 30 hours

 

  

A1215

p
~0—

work in one week. Yet, these young people had spent many months

,in the labor market. The ones who were members of the 1933 class

had been in the labor market on the average 23 months; those of

the 1931 class, 41 months; and those of the 1929 class, 48 months.
About 86 percent of the disadvantaged group had worked

at full-time jobs but not until they had spent more than a year

in search of work. The remaining 46 percent had found full—time

jobs within their first year in the labor market but their total

periods of unemployment amounted to at least a year and outweighed

their periods of employment.

City Variations. The disadvantaged group care from all parts of
the youth population included in the survey, but it drew more
heavily from some parts of the population than from others. For
example, there were considerable differences in the proportions of
disadvantaged youth in the seven cities:

Of every 100 youth in the labor The disadvantaged group
market on July 1, 1938, in: included:

 

 

Denver, Colorado
Binghnmton, New York
Seattle, Washington

San Francisco, California
St. Louis, Missouri
Duluth, Minnesota
Birmingham, Alabama

FPC'JCJLDCOQQ

Hl#i4

In part, this variation among the cities is attributable
to differences in the economic activity of their principal industries.
In Birmingham, a city largely dependent upon the iron and steel indus—
try, the mills were operating at only half capacity as late as the
summer of 1938, when the survey ended. In Binghemton, where the

manufacture of shoes is the leading activity, practically all the

 

 

  

 

A1215

factories were operating.

In none of these seven cities were youth so hard hit by
unemployment as were those in a truly depressed coal mining area
in southern Illinois reported in another survey.§/ There, even
during the winter months of peak activity in 1958—39, it was found
that 58 percent of all workers under 25 years of age were unemployed.
To emphasize the seriousness of their position, it was shown that 38
percent of all the young workers in these coal towns had never held
a job in private employment. In comparison with such an extreme
situation the results from the seven youth survey cities provide a range

in local conditions from fairly good to moderately poor.

Age as~a Factor. In the seven cities the members of the class that
completed the eighth grade in 1929 had a lower representation of
disadvantaged youth than those of the other two classes. In effect
this means that the class Whose members averaged 28 years of age in
July 1938 included fewer disadvantaged youth than the class averaging
31 years of age or the class averaging 19 years of age.

Of every 100 youth in the labor The disadvantaged

market on July 1, 1958, who group_includgd:

were members of the:
Oldest class (1929)
Middle class (1931)
Youngest class (1983)

’_J i...‘
ele'm

Two reasons may be advanced for the better showing of the

1929 class. First, a larger proportion of them than of the later

 

é/ Webb, John N., Unemployment in a Depressed Coal-Mining Area,
Monthly Labor Review, Buremi of Labor Statistics, U. S.
Department of Labor, December 1959.

 

 

 

  

 

A1215
~8—

classes entered the labor market before the full effects of the
depression were felt, and therefore had an advantage in establish—
ing themselves in the labor force. Second, and of more importance,
members of the 1929 class, having an average age of about 23 years,
were entering the period of their most productive years. Other
things being equal, workers in the age range beginning at about
this point and continuing upwards to 35 years are the cream of the

labor supply and have the lowest incidence of unemployment.

Sex and Color. Not much difference is observable between the pro-
portions of young men and young women who were in the disadvantaged
group.

Of every 100 youth in the labor The disadvantaged
market on July 1, 1958, who vere: group included:

Males
Females 11

Within cities there were other factors contributing to
disadvantage that were more serious even that the differences
between cities. Color was the most important of all factors in its
effect on the relative proportions of disadvantaged youth. In two
cities, Birmingham and St. Louis, there were sizeable Negro
populations. In these two cities Negro youth bore a disproportionate
share of the types of unemployment that identified the disadvantaged.

Of every 100 youth in the labor The disadvantaged
market on July 1, 1938, who were: group included:

 

 

Birmingham white youth 11
Birmingham Negro youth 21
St. Louis White youth 10

St. Louis Negro youth 31

 

 

  

 

  

Twice as high a proportion of Negro youth as of white youth
in Birmingham were in the disadvantaged group, while in St. Louis

the proportion was three times as high among the Negro youth.

Economic Level of Family. Another factor beyond the youth's control
but one that is clearly related to his chances of finding steady work
is the occupational level of his father. Each youth in the survey
was asked the occupation at which his father worked longest during
the 10 years preceding the interview. Even when generous allowances
are made for rough classifications required in condensing this in—
formation, there can be no doubt that disadvantaged youth come much
more frequently from families at the lower than at the upper

,economic levels.

 

 

 

Of every 100 youth in the labor The disadvantaged group
market on July 1, 1938, whose includid:

 

fathers were:

White collar workers 7
Skilled workers 10
Semiskilled workers ll
Unskilled workers 16

So pronounced is this relationship between econOmic level
and disadvantage that it persists even when important contributory
factors such as race are eliminated. Thus, the differences in

proportions of disadvantaged youth according to occupation of their

F4

fathers follow the same general order as that shown above when white
and Negro youth are examined separately.
An incidental disclosure of this inquiry into the usual

occupation of the father was the fact that about one out of every

 

  

  

A1215 _ 10 _

11 youth had lost his father by death, divorce, or other reasons
before leaving grade school The question immediately arose as to
whether this loss tended to impose a special handicap on the youth‘s
later adjustment to gainful activity. From the evidence available
this was not the case, since only ll out of every 100 youth who had
lost their fathers were included among the disadvantaged as defined
in this study, a prOportion only slightly higher than the proportion

for all youth.

Home Locatign. The section of the city in which a youth lives is
largely, but not entirely, determined by his race and by the occupation
and the income of his father. Even disregarding the first two of

these relationships, it is not surprising to find that low rental

areas furnished higher proportions of disadvantaged youth than did

medium or high rental areas. g/

 

 

Of every 100 youth in the labor The disadvantaged group
Market on July 1, 1938, from: included:

High rental areas 7

Medium rental areas 10

Low rental areas 13

Education. Another factor in the relative proportions of disadvantaged
youth is their educational attainments. It would seem that the youth
himself is not entirely responsible for the amount of education he
acquires; some differences in educational achievements can be traced

to each of the other background factors already mentioned. The

average education of youth in some of the seven cities was higher

than in others. About the same proportions of girls and boys completed

high school, but more of the boys went on to college. White youth

 

g/ Home addresses during the time when the youth were attending the eighth
grade were classified by average rental values in the vicinity. The youth
were then divided into three grades so that high rental areas included
about a fourth of them, medium rental areas about a half, and lgw rental
areas the remaining fourth.

 

 

 

  

A1215
- ll —

received more education than Negro youth within the same city.
Sons and daughters of white collar workers went further in school
than did children of unskilled workers. Youth from high rental
areas also continued further in school than did those from medium
or low rental areas.

In any case, it appears that better education, in general,
tends to reduce the proportion of disadvantaged youth. However,
consideration should always be given to the possibility that youth
who may have been more capable from an employment standpoint were
also the ones who advanced furthest in school. In other words,
they might have had less disadvantage even without the additional
education.

In analysing the relationship of educational achievement
to labor market handicaps, the factor of age must be held constant.
This may be done by examining each of the three groups of eighth

grade graduates separately.

 

Of every 100 members of the 1929 eighth The disadVAntaged
grade class in the labor market on July group included:

 

l, 1938, who had completed only the:

 

8th grade 8
9th grade 10
10th grade 11
llth grade 11
12th grade 8
let year of college
2n" year of college

d
8rd year of college
4th year of college

CUO‘ICDUl

Among this oldest of the three classes included in the
Study youth with only eighth and ninth rade educations were less

frequently found in the disadvantaged group than were those who left

 

 

 

  

A1215

'— 12 —
school after completing the tenth or eleventh grade. In part, this
is due to the fact that these youth left school in 1929 and 1930
before the labor surplus had reached the staggering proportions of
the worst depression years. Members of the 1931 and 1933 eighth
grade classes who went no further in school than the eighth and
ninth grades felt the full effects of mounting unemployment and
accordingly show more distinctly the relationship between education
and unemployment.
Of every 100 members of the 1931 eighth The disadvantaged

grade class in the labor market on July group included:
1, 1938, who had completed only the:

 

 

8th grade 15
9th grade 15
10th grade 14
11th grade 12
12th grade 9
1st year of college 5
2nd year of college 3

And:

Of every 100 members of the 1933 eighth The disadvantaged
grade class in the labor market on July group included:
1, 1938, who had completed only the:

 

 

 

8th grade 20
9th grade 22
10th grade 18
11th grade 14
12th grade 6

A further word of caution in interpreting these figures: a
In all three classes the low proportions of disadvantaged youth
among those with the highest educations may be understatements.

The definitien of disadvantaged youth includes a minimum unemployment

duration of 12 months, which may be longer than some youth with the

 

 

 

    
 
   
  
  
   
 
  
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
   

a 13 -

better educations had been in the labor market. In other words,
some of the better educated youth may not have been in the market

long enough for any disadvantages to demonstrate themselves under

the terms of the definition used here.

Eighth Grade Age. The proportion of disadvantaged youth is also

related to the youth's age when he completed the eighth grade.

 

Most youth enter school at the age of six years and complete the

eighth grade at an age of 14 years. If 14 years, then, is taken as
the normal age at eighth grade graduation, those youth who completed
the eighth grade when only 12 years of age were advanced students
while those who completed the eighth grade after their sixteenth
Abirthdays were retarded students. School advancement and retardar

tion show marked relationships to the proportion of disadvantaged youth.

 

 

 

Disadvantage a Composite Result. A number of factors have now

 

!

Of every 100 youth in the labor Ehe_disadvantaged 3
market on July 1, 1958, who com~ group included: E
pleted the eighth grade at the __ é
agent:
i

12 years or under 7 H

13 years 8 i

14 years 9 g

15 years 13 t

16 years or over 16 i

,

3

been pointed out, all of which seem to have some bearing on the
chance of youth's being at a disadvantage in finding steady

employment. None of the favorable background factors that have

E
E
t
been investigated insures freedom from unemployment; none of the E
2
unfavorable ones establishes the certainty of unemployment; but %

some appear more likely to result in long unemployment than others.

 

  

   
 

_ 14 _

Youth against whom several unfavorable factors have conspired —

local conditions, race, father‘s occupation, retardation in school ~

are much more likely to be long unemployed than are youth more

favorably situated. When employment is so essential to all these

youth it is unfortunate that some of them, apparently without fault

of their own, face greater difficulties in securing steady full—time

work than do others.

DIFFIGULTIES IN FINDING JOBS

Despite their disadvantage, these youth were not comolaining.

Two out of every five youth in the disadvantaged group said that the

only difficulties they had experienced in finding emnloyment were

those experienced by all youth who were trying to find work during

this period. In this connection, they were asked not to report

difficulties common to all youth, but only those they thought peculiar

to themselves. Most surprisingly, 85 percent of the Negroes in the

disadvantaged group said they had no special difficulties.

Inexperience.

The most common difficulty the disadvantaged group

said they had encountered was inexperience.

Of every 100 youth in the disad—
vantaged group, this number:

Gate-(none

01031-me

Stated that the outstanding
special difficulty encountered
was

 

 

Lack of exnerience

Lack of general training
Lackedf specialized training
Lack of union membership
Insufficient education

LacK of "null"
Physical defects

Too young

Other difficulties

No special difficulty

  
 

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Youth takes the criticism of its inexperience very seriously.
"How do they expect us to get experience if they won't give us work?"
is a sentiment frequently expressed by the new worker. It may be
conjectured, however, that when an employer cites a youth‘s inex—
perience as the reason for not hiring him he is sometimes using this
stereotyped statement a a convenient alternative to the real reason

for refusal.

Eged of Training. About 14 percent of the disadvantaged group re~
ported difficulties connected With insufficient preparation, some
having found that they lacked training in particular skills, others
that they needed more general training. It is interesting to note
that youth themselves show no more unanimity of opinion in the

debate on general versus specific training than do educators. Perhaps

neither type of training should be made to suffer at the cost of the

other.

gnion_M9mbership. One of the basic principles of trade unionism is
the maintenance of a balance between qualified workers in the trade
and job opportunities. When a surplus of workers threatens in any
craft, steps are taken to limit new membership until the surplus

is absorbed. It is scarcely surprising then that during a period of
long continued surplus of workers in all lines of work, unions,
particularly in the skilled crafts, should place restrictions on
the admittance of new members. It is this situation that tgives
rise to the report by some youth that lack of union membership has

been their principal difficulty in finding work. Although 4 percent

 

 

3; an r .- ‘; .

3.

 

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