This report from the Urban Institute details findings from an evaluation of the High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI). The HGJTI was a national grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to establish industry-focused job training to meet the industry’s workforce challenges. Researchers conducted a review of grant applications and quarterly reports, made site visits to nine sites, collected data from grantee training programs, compiled quarterly earnings data from State unemployment insurance wage records, and analyzed administrative data from public workforce system agencies.

This report represents the first step in the process of identifying initiatives intended to assist TANF recipients living with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment that may be worthy of further study. The outcomes and impacts of such initiatives are of substantial interest to program administrators and policymakers for several reasons. First and foremost is the concern over the well-being of these recipients and their families. Second, these initiatives often require considerable staff effort and intensive services and, therefore, can be costly to implement. Third, states and localities are under growing pressure to meet increased federally mandated work participation rates and recipients living with disabilities are one of many groups that program administrators and policymakers may consider targeting to increase those rates. To assist program administrators and policymakers in deciding how they should spend limited resources, it is critical to know whether the initiatives are, indeed, producing their desired effects. The time may be ripe for rigorously testing the impact of employment initiatives for low-income families living with disabilities and this report presents some potential options for doing so. (author abstract)

The share of low-income single mothers disconnected from work and TANF ranges from 20 to 25 percent. Most disconnected low-income single mothers experience barriers to work and most of their families live in poverty. This brief reviews what we know about the numbers and characteristics of disconnected mothers, their economic well-being, their living arrangements, and the length of time that they tend to be disconnected. The brief draws lessons for policy, including efforts for keep TANF recipients in great need from losing TANF benefits and becoming disconnected and to improve employment prospects for those with serious challenges to work. (author abstract)

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund, which was established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), provided funding for States to create or expand subsidized employment programs. As a result of the funding, more than 250,000 people were placed in subsidized employment. The Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsored the Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) project in order to evaluate subsidized employment programs, and this report presents the first phase of the evaluation. Authors provide a review of subsidized employment programs based on telephone interviews, site visits and reports.

GED diplomas account for about 12 percent of high school degrees earned in the United States. More than half of GED test credential recipients cite postsecondary education as the motivation for passing the GED test. However, less than 15 percent of GED test credential recipients complete postsecondary education. In order to uncover factors impacting GED test credential recipients’ decision to pursue, or not pursue, postsecondary education, the American Council on Education (ACE) released its preliminary report, Perceptions and Pathways. This report presents themes and patterns of ACE’s examination of the experiences, motivations, and developed perceptions that have influenced post-secondary achievement among 2005-2006 GED test credential recipients.

Displaced workers often have difficulty finding new employment opportunities. This report, from the Monthly Labor Review at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides information on displaced workers across industries between 2007 and 2009. Twenty-three percent (1.6 million) of all long-tenured displaced workers, individuals who lost or left jobs they had held for 3 or more years, were displaced from manufacturing jobs. Around one million long-tenured displaced workers had held jobs in wholesale and retail trade, and more than 900,000 displaced workers had lost or left jobs in the construction industry.

This fact sheet, by the Urban Institute’s Unemployment and Recovery Project, depicts the changes in employment and low-skill employment by State between 2007 and August of 2011. While the employment-to-population ratio has remained relatively constant since its sharp decline in 2009, new jobs have only been able to keep up with population growth. Employers have not been able to replace the jobs lost as a result of the recession. The employment losses have been felt more intensely by America’s low-skilled workers who have seen a 15.3 percent decline in employment since 2007, as compared to a 5.6 percent decline for workers of all skill levels. This fact sheet shows great disparities among States with regards to their employment losses for low-skill workers and workers of all skill levels, suggesting distinct recovery needs.

On October 10, 2011, Sentier Research released its first report on a new monthly series that examines household income trends within the United States. This report researched household income trends within the context of the economic recovery from June 2009 to June 2011. In order to further analyze median household income each month, the report applies a Household Income Index (HII), which is tracked from January 2000 and will be evaluated through the Fall of 2012 when the U.S. Census Bureau releases its income and poverty report for 2011. Also included in the report is median household income data unique to demographic, economic and social groups, as well as a graph of the HII and the unemployment rate from January 2000 to June 2011.