Description
Containing 11 contributions from academics, researchers, and practitioners, this volume examines the factors that affected employment opportunities for young, less-educated black men during the economic boom of the 1990s. A sampling of topics includes employer perceptions of criminal records; the availability and use of workforce development programs; and disadvantages facing young black fathers. The papers were originally presented at conferences hosted at the National Partnership for Community Leadership in May 2001 and March 2002. Editor Mincy teaches social work at Columbia U. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Despite the overall economic gains in the 1990s, many young black men continue to have the poorest life chances of anyone in our society. Joblessness and low earnings among these less-educated young adults are contributing to reductions in marriage, increases in nonmarital childbearing, and a host of other social problems. In Black Males Left Behind, Ronald Mincy has assembled a distinguished group of experts who examine how less-educated black men fared relative to other less-educated young people during the economic expansion of the 1990s and why. Chapters explore the roles of the macroeconomy, the deconcentration of blue-collar employment, criminal justice policy, and the employment aspirations of young less-educated black men and consider their implications for the design of employment services, welfare-to-work policies, workforce development policy, and child support enforcement. Two chapters comprehensively review policy opportunities to assist less-educated young black fathers and discuss how to overcome political resistance to initiatives serving less-educated black men. This book makes a compelling case for greater public attention to a serious domestic problem.
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