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Past experience and economic theory lead us to expect a positive relationship between income inequality and commodity booms. Yet Latin America's recent improvement in income distribution coincided with a rapid growth in commodity exports. How was this positive outcome possible? This paper answers this question using a combination of primary and secondary sources. It highlights the role of (re)distributive policies that enlarged the impact of labour market outcomes. The paper concludes that political pressures forced governments to manage the commodity boom better than in the past but did not lead to significant transformations in the region's elite-driven development model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inequality in adult learning and education (ALE) participation has been reported by previous comparative studies. In doing so, however, most of efforts have been made to understand such patterns of inequality in ALE participation at the micro-level using a conceptual approach based on human capital theory. While the micro-level approach offers an individualistic and economic perspective on learning, macro-level structural conditions play an important role in creating the circumstances faced by individuals. By performing a critical literature review, this paper intends to build conceptual foundations conducive to understand both micro- and macro-level dimensions implicitly and/or explicitly linked to inequality in ALE participation. Specifically, this paper takes a brief look into social origins as a micro-level factor, and takes an in-depth look into social inequality (i.e. education, economic and skill inequality) and institutional settings (i.e. active labour market policies and strictness of employment protection,) as macro-level factors. These conceptual foundations can be used as a conceptual framework for a cross-country empirical analysis of the degree of inequality in ALE participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the second largest indigenous population by percentage in Latin America, Guatemala is an important case for understanding horizontal inequality and indigenous politics. This paper presents new analysis of survey data, allowing for consideration both of indigenous and ladino populations, as well as of ethno-linguistic diversity within the indigenous population. Our analysis illustrates both the depth and persistence of horizontal inequalities in educational and labour market outcomes, and a broad trend towards greater equality. Earnings gaps have been reduced by, among other factors, improved educational outcomes. Ethnic groups also show distinct patterns of wages and wage gaps, and there is evidence of ‘sticky floors’ affecting some groups more than others. Our findings suggest that the focus on the indigenous/non-indigenous divide found in much of the economic literature on Latin America obscures meaningful diversity within the indigenous population. We posit that further consideration of such within-group diversity has implications for broader theories of ethnic politics, and in particular for understanding the comparative weakness of indigenous political mobilisation in Guatemala. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies assessing national policy reforms in education focus on the likelihood of acquiring an advanced education and the associated returns in the labor market. In this paper, the authors investigate the impact of the Israeli Academic Colleges Law that was designed to promote the acquisition of higher education among all segments of the Israeli population. They found that this law, in fact, contributed to making higher education accessible more to the Israeli Arab minority than to the rest of the population. In addition, they demonstrate that the influence of the law on improving access to higher education is reflected in the increase in the earning potential of Israeli Arabs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study, we examined the relationship between determinants of governance and poverty reduction. We also investigated how female participation in the labour market helps alleviate poverty. We collected the balanced panel data of 29 countries over the period 2004–2016 from the World Bank database and Worldwide Governance Indicators database. Results indicated that robust governance is necessary for poverty reduction and that policy implementation timeliness is more likely to mitigate poverty. Moreover, the inclusion of females in the labour market and an efficient governance system contribute to enhanced well-being among the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of inter-cohort comparisons, this paper describes patterns of intra-generational occupational mobility in Germany and their long-term trends since World War II. It also presents conceptual links between individual mobility and developments of inequality along the life course, with a special focus on the question of the extent to which employment careers are characterised by specific forms of cumulative advantage and disadvantage. Finally, it is asked how intra-generational developments are related to inter-generational social mobility. The paper also discusses how mobility patterns can be linked to specific institutions which - together with labour market conditions - are crucial determinants of the development of inequality within a cohort. In its empirical part, the paper presents evidence from cohort-specific analyses based on life-course data from a broad range of West German birth cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental leave policies have considerable potential to contribute to the advancement of social equalities, however this is highly contingent on design features such as breadth of coverage and, for gender equality, support for a shared earner/carer social model. These characteristics are in turn shaped by the prevailing welfare state regime and gender order, with coverage also dependent on levels of labour market fragmentation and insecurity. In this paper we examine a number of these intersecting influences in the Australian case. We show that Australian parental leave policies have relatively broad coverage, but note limitations and gaps that could be exacerbated in a future, more fragmented, labour market. We also underline the extent to which current provisions reflect and consolidate, rather than challenge, a 'maternalist' care regime. In conclusion, we canvass strategies to optimise coverage and support gender equality in the future, recognising the constraints of path dependencies arising from Australia's distinctive policy history and the ensuing tension between a 'welfare' and 'employment' basis for entitlements. Policy adaptations to strengthen connections with employment and move beyond a 'primary carer' focus are recommended as conducive to a more egalitarian future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents comments on the data that has been collected about the inequality prevalent in Northern Ireland. Some interesting hypotheses and suggestions concerning the socioeconomic characteristics of Protestants and Catholics in the Province and the processes of educational, occupational and income attainment for each religious group has been discussed. The British census does not provide data for Northern Ireland broken down by religion but Northern Ireland has conducted its own population census since its creation through the Government of Ireland Act in 1920. Those actively engaged in examining issues of equality of opportunity in the Northern Ireland labor market are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to examine the nature and impact of the social, economic, and political changes which have undoubtedly taken place since 1971. These changes have not only been generated by civil disturbance but also by such factors as the redevelopment and suburbanization which have greatly altered the social geography of Belfast, Northern Ireland, the rapid growth in opportunities to participate in higher education and the processes of deindustrialization which are producing unemployment rates in Northern Ireland unmatched since the 1930s.

The paper analyses growing inequality in the rising powers, concentrating on the situation in China and India. It describes the various processes that are currently underway to reduce inequality in these economies. These processes include a combination of tightening the labour market, as best seen in China, increasing rural productivity and implementing government measures to boost basic rural incomes in all such countries. Reductions in inequality in the emerging economies have a global macro-economic effect of increasing consumption, thus counteracting the current global slowdown. They also have the benefit of creating more space at the bottom for poorer economies to take up more of the world's low-skill production, as the emerging economies themselves move up to higher skill production and exports. This sequential upgrading is being driven by the growth of emerging economy markets and by wage increases in these economies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the effect of the public sector and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on wage inequality in urban China using China Household Income Project data. It applies quantile regression analysis, the Machado and Mata decomposition to investigate how urban wage inequality was affected by the changes in wage structure and employment shares of the public sector and SOEs. We find that since the radical state sector reforms designed to reduce overstaffing and improve efficiency in the late 1990s, urban wage gaps were narrowed due to the reduction in the employment share of the state sector; the wage premium of the state sector in comparison with the non-state sector increased significantly; and changes in the wage structure of the labour market caused the rise in urban wage inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic inequality in South America decreased steadily since 2002. However, as the beginning of the 2010s marked the end of the commodities boom in the region, economic inequality showed constant or even increasing rates in some of these countries. The decrease in economic inequality has often been related to the impact of the macro economic changes, like the boom of the commodity prices and the institutional reinforcement, and changes in the labor market. Therefore, the proposedhyphotesis is that productive capacity improvement of the less educated has played a key role in reducing inequality. Productive capacity takes into consideration three variables related to hard and soft skills to work, which are educational coverage, internet access and life conditions. Results show that, in addition to demand forces, the improvement of the productive capacity of the less educated is positively and significantly related to the reduction of inequality in South America in 2002–2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comparative Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper is a theoretical examination of three major empirical trends that affect many people: globalisation, increasingly close relations between higher education (HE) and labour markets, and increasing social inequality. Its aim is to identify key theoretical resources and their contribution to the development of a comparative theoretical framework for understanding countries' responses to globalisation with respect to HE and the labour market, and the significance of such responses for social inequality. The method consists in developing a theoretical reading of Bourdieu's and Brown's theoretical concepts of social inequality in the interrelation of HE and labour market. As a result this paper presents preliminary ideas for the theoretical comparison of current societies' HE systems and labour markets with regard to social inequality in the age of globalisation. It concludes by illustrating the need for further comparative research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper uses British Household Panel Survey data from 1991 to 2002 to assess the extent to which labour market returns have been influenced by changes in the nature of educational supply. We find that whilst there have been substantial shifts in the returns to schooling over the period, these effects are much more pronounced for younger workers. The most notable change was the complete elimination of the premium for GCSE's over no qualifications for both males and females under 30 years old and the fall in the returns to vocational degrees for young males. The disappearance of the GCSE premium, which, it is argued, is linked to a rising demand for low-qualified workers, was found to temper the rise in inequality, while the rise in educational participation was found to substantially increase male graduate wage dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses data drawn from the European Union Labour Force Survey 2000 Ad Hoc Module on School to Work Transitions to explore the influence of gender and social background (measured in terms of parental education) on young people's educational and early labour market outcomes across 12 European countries. Our results show that social background is strongly related to the level of education achieved while gender is found to have a stronger effect on the field of study selected. Countries vary in the extent to which gender and social background affect young people's outcomes. Gender differentiation in labour market outcomes reflects the nature of the welfare regime, being more pronounced in familial and conservative systems. Social inequality in educational attainment and early labour market outcomes are less marked in Finland and Sweden, reflecting the combination of less differentiated educational systems, mass higher education and social-democratic welfare regimes. In contrast, social inequality is more marked in the Eastern European countries, due partly to their highly differentiated educational systems but more notably to rapid changes taking place in post-communist systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of mainstream economists believe that globalization and trade liberalization have had a minor role in increasing U.S. wage inequality. A minority argues that capital mobility and outsourcing indicate a larger effect. This paper first surveys these views, and then argues that how we understand the policy consequences of trade liberalization helps determine the character our analysis of the issue itself. Thus, a shift in policy perspective, to consider the "equity costs" of trade liberalization in terms of eroded U.S. labor market institutions, produces a larger framework for analyzing the consequences of globalization and trade liberalization than is available in traditional comparative advantage efficiency reasoning. From this wider perspective, trade liberalization has likely had a greater impact on U.S. wage inequality than even the minority mainstream position allows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I discuss ways in which gender relations -- that is relations of inequality between women and men -- may change in aging societies where life expectations are high, fertility low, and where old people constitute a high proportion of the population. The central argument is that the aging society will provide opportunities to develop more egalitarian relations between women and men both in the public and private sphere. Such opportunities will only be realized if the link between gender and the care of children is severed. This is most likely to occur if women's position in the labor market is improved. It is argued that the aging society may indeed have a high demand for women's labor which makes such a development likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The Hungarian Household Panel started in 1992 with a representative sample of Hungarian households. The first part of the paper gives a non-technical overview of the design, methods, research questions and possible uses of the study. The second part overviews some of the analytical work undertaken on the dataset and uses illustrative data on labour market changes, incomes, inequalities and poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes over time in social-class inequality of educational attainment have been shown by previous research to depend on whether attainment is measured absolutely or relatively. The pioneering work in this respect by Bukodi and Goldthorpe found that inequality has fallen when attainment is measured absolutely (for example, as the percentage completing full secondary schooling) but has changed less when a relative measure is used (for example, reaching the top quarter of the distribution of attainment). Although absolute measures remain intrinsically interesting, insofar as they represent cognitive or cultural accomplishment, relative measures are more relevant for understanding the role of education in allocating people competitively to employment. Implicit in this previous research, as in much research on the connection between education and social mobility, is that the society over which the relative standing of qualifications is measured is the same as that in which they are used to gain social rewards, such as a job. When labour markets operate across educational borders, this assumption might be open to question. The present analysis investigates the interpretation of absolute and relative educational inequality by comparing England, Scotland and Wales, which have distinct education systems but a common labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the economic integration of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union into the Israeli labour market in terms of occupational and earnings mobility (i.e. decreasing occupational and earnings disparities) in comparison with several Israeli Jewish sub-populations. Using data from annual Income Surveys conducted by the Israel Bureau of Statistics between the years 1995 and 2006, we find little occupational and earnings mobility of Soviet immigrants throughout the period and substantial occupational and earnings disadvantages compared to all Jewish sub-populations (especially when compared to Jews of European/American origin). The findings are discussed in light of the assimilation model, suggesting that the social and economic circumstances associated with the arrival of Soviet immigrants in Israel have long-lasting, detrimental consequences for their economic assimilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telework as a 'flexible work practice' is often mythologised as a revolutionary form of work. However, to varying degrees, teleworking opportunities have been undermined by policy instruments predicated on assumed equalities between economic actors. This research suggests that while the request-based policies in the UK are not a guaranteed right, they do provide an important basis for employees to internalise their 'rights' and initiate a process for flexible working arrangements. They also imbue a corresponding obligation of firms to consider delivering on those expectations. By contrast Australian privilege-based policy instruments particularly restrict access for those employed in precarious and unskilled areas of the economy. Drawing on international and national telework policy approaches, this paper reflects on tensions between what could be described as 'rights' and 'privilege' policy approaches to teleworking. It argues that if telework is to become a legitimate employee expectation, policy instruments in Australia must be based firmly on rights, rather than privileges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the impact of temporary work on two dimensions of social inequality: income and career mobility. Additionally, we are taking a comparative perspective on this subject by comparing Germany and the UK. To investigate the effects of temporary work we use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Study on non-self-employed respondents. The results show that temporary work does influence the system of social inequality: we found wage penalties and an increased probability of severe negative effects on the working careers of temporarily employed persons in both countries (net of education, age, and a variety of other covariates). Thus we can conclude that temporary employment represents a substantial socio-economic risk for employees. Most importantly, this holds true for both the German and the British case, two quite distinct labour market regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I want to address the connections between the three areas of work: first, the theorisation of identity as relational; second, the significance of difference and diversity in thinking about inequality, labour market restructuring and the social construction of multiple masculinities; and finally, the political implications of taking diversity into account in arguing for a participatory democracy based on ideas about inclusion, respect and responsibility. I want to illustrate these connections in the specific context of a case study about young men in contemporary Britain. In the sections that follow, I focus on each of these areas or concepts in turn, but attempt to demonstrate the connections between the substantive debates in each of the sections. In my conclusion I raise some of the policy implications for building wider social inclusion in democracies by connecting notions of difference and diversity to structural inequalities, or what is sometimes referred to by geographers as 'the cultural' and 'the economic' dimensions of difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Too often the minimum wage is conceived of as a small policy measure that will be of benefit to only a small segment of the labor market while imposing costs on another segment of the labor market. Unexplored, however, are the larger philosophic questions that such a small measure may actually raise. One such issue is the relationship between the minimum wage and democratic principles. In this paper I argue that the minimum wage furthers the ends of democratic society in that low-wage workers may achieve greater equality of standing with their piers to the extent that income inequality is at all lessened; their autonomy as individuals is enhanced through higher wages, which in turn enables them to claim the benefits of citizenship and participate more effectively in the democratic process; and it fosters greater economic development in that it raises the overall structure of a region and perhaps the productivity of that region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the reorganization of work in labor markets dominated by the presence of high-technology industries from 1980 to 199O. Using Public Use Microdata Samples, we identify trends in spatial, industrial, occupational, gender, and racial divisions of labor and their effects on earnings inequality. Patterns in these changing work structures are linked to both general and specific theories of labor market development, structures, and processes. We find that centers of high-tech employment exhibit varied patterns of agglomeration, decline, and dispersion over the decade. Moreover, industrial and occupational divisions embedded within these high-tech spaces show variation across labor market areas as well. We identify some general trends, including the increasing dominance of upper-tier workers (professional, technical, and managerial) across most high-tech areas and the effects of Reagan's defense-related policies in the generation of new high-tech areas in certain locales. An analysis of the processes of earnings generation in high-tech labor markets reinforces the importance of divisions or segmentation of labor for understanding earnings inequality and its embeddedness in specific labor market contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that employment practices constitute the operations of the labour market and that these are taken for granted in analyses of the place of immigrant and black labour. They are practices of very different kinds, with different objects, aims and calculations. One of their effects, in combination, has been to produce what is legally known and morally condemned as effective racial discrimination, and what are known in the economics of labour markets as secondary jobs. In order to succeed, struggles to eliminate racism and to achieve equality of opportunity will have to identify and change these practices. These practices go beyond a 'lack of provision for equal opportunity'. Here a general identification is attempted, and means suggested for taking such investigation further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family life has changed significantly in recent decades for both women and men. Fertility rates have dropped, numbers divorcing have increased, and the proportion of children born outside marriage has grown. At the same time, we have seen significant changes in state forms and institutions, with marketization becoming embedded in centrally planned economies as well as welfare states. Women increasingly participate in labour markets and higher education, as expectations of equal opportunity have expanded. Despite obvious improvements in female employment and educational attainment, however, gender inequalities persist, not least in law, policy, labour markets, and family roles. Women continue to provide the bulk of informal multigenerational care. Work and family policies vary across the globe, yet policy analysis from a gender perspective is scarce. This editorial considers research from around the world, including Europe, the former Soviet bloc, Japan, and China, to develop an understanding of the tensions and shifts in the gendered organisation of family lives. Changes and continuities in gendered inequalities shaping family life are examined, with a focus on the intersection of state, labour market, and family, as they reproduce and reshape gender norms and inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last three decades have witnessed rising inequality and deepening financialization in post-industrial democracies. A rapidly growing literature has linked these two phenomena. We go beyond existing scholarship by specifying which aspects of financialization can be expected to increase inequality and where in the income distribution this effect will occur. We also show that this effect is contingent on institutional context. We posit that the shareholder model of corporate governance and the growing demand for financial professionals are the two dimensions of financialization that drive up pre-tax income inequality. Nevertheless, the spread of the shareholder value model only benefits the very top income earners. We further argue that the institutional strength of labor shapes the relationship between financialization and inequality. We analyze effects of indicators of these two dimensions of financialization on the top 1% and the next 9% income shares and on the 90:50 earnings ratio. We test our hypotheses with data on 18 post-industrial democracies between 1960 and 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing political unrest and severe economic hardships in Sudan have led many Sudanese to arrive in Europe as asylum seekers. Throughout the years, after obtaining refugee status and becoming European citizens, many settle in the host countries of which they are citizens, while others move onwards to other EU countries as European labour migrants. As the migrants' legal statuses change during these different stages, so do their welfare and labour-market entitlements, as well as their aspirations and possibilities to achieve them. Drawing on 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork with Sudanese families across the Netherlands, the UK and Sudan, this article explores the strategies deployed by male and female migrants to navigate the current welfare states, labour-market and migration regimes according to their life-course-related needs and aspirations. The article evidences the existing expectations and contradictions in these regimes towards mobile populations and the consequent social and gender inequalities they perpetuate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ιn a policy context in which the harmonisation of HE curricula towards connection with the labour market is pursued, the article seeks to elucidate under-theorised and over-aggregated accounts of the role of the field of study in graduate employability and to investigate it from a new analytical angle to explain variations between fields. Using Bernstein's theory of knowledge structures, the field of study is reconceptualised as an object in itself, shedding light on its internal relations and how these can shape graduates' perceptions of and engagement in relevant employment. The study investigates variations within humanities and social sciences which are usually addressed by policy and scholarly research as a single category sector. The results reveal how different knowledge structures set heterogeneous conditions for graduate transitions, with explicit or implicit pathway-setting from education to work, through stronger or weaker specialisation of knowledge and identity, shaping introjected or projected identities. The study brings to light the crucial point of the intersection of a knowledge structure with a graduate's social class by using Bourdieu's theory. This shows how, in each field of study, specific forms of social inequality operate, affecting graduates' transitions from HE to work in increasingly competitive and precarious labour markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominant market logic in contemporary education produces social inequalities in education, through new mechanisms. To create markets in education, services and resources have to be rationed, so inequality is built in. To motivate parents to buy privatised services, losers have to be created and publicised – this is the function of NAPLAN testing and theMySchoolwebsite. In neo-liberal rhetoric, the actual pattern of social inequality is misrepresented, e.g. the idea of ‘pockets of poverty’, while institutional restructuring embeds the new mechanisms. Neoliberalism seeks to close down arenas for debate and create a monopoly for the market perspective; it is important to sustain other agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We find that the share of state-level income captured by the top 1% of income earners falls by 1.73pp in response to WWII contract spending. We also find a postwar permanent decline in top 1% income shares of 0.85pp attributable to wartime spending. This is half the average state-level decline in inequality during the war and one-fifth of the average postwar decline in inequality relative to 1940. We take this as evidence that WWII military spending induced permanent labour market changes in manufacturing that reduced inequality relative to its level in 1940. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not being in employment, education or training (NEET) as a youth consistently predicts adverse educational, labour market and health outcomes. School-aged refugee children are known to be particularly vulnerable within each of these domains. Yet little is known about how these outcomes have evolved over time. This study explores trends in the risk of youth NEET status during the early twenties for refugees and their non-refugee peers in Denmark from 1995 to 2014 by utilising national registry data on demographics, income, education and diagnoses covering the full population. The analysis shows that the inequality in the probability of youth NEET status has diminished considerably from up to 20 percentage points among the oldest cohorts to less than 5 percentage points among the youngest. This development was robust to compositional differences, although much more so for girls than boys. For refugee girls, the change in the probability of youth NEET status coincided with changes in timing of family formation, but was not explained by it. In addition, the correlation between family formation and youth NEET status became considerably weaker over time. The findings suggest that some circumstances surrounding the incorporation of refugee school children into their new social contexts have improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major focus of sociological research is on the role of the credential as a 'currency of opportunity', mediating the relationship between education and occupational destinations. However, the labour market has largely remained a 'black box' in sociological and education policy studies. This article draws on 'big data' from over 21,000,000 job adverts to explore how employers in the UK describe job requirements, with particular reference to the role of credentials. It challenges existing theories premised upon the notion that higher levels of formal education determine individual (dis)advantage in the competition for jobs. Although they have different views of the relationship between credentials, opportunity and efficiency, these theories assume that credentials largely determine occupational hiring. Our analysis suggests that formal academic credentials play a relatively minor differentiating role in the UK labour market, as the majority of employer's place greater emphasis on 'job readiness'. This raises a number of issues for sociological and policy analysis, including the future role of credentials in the (re)production of educational and labour market inequalities. Methodologically, the article highlights how the use of big data can contribute to the analysis of education, skills and the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, Japan's labour market has faced substantial changes, represented by flexibility, an increase in the proportion of the non-regular workforce and rising inequality. Under the intense pressure of fluctuating business environments and protracted recession, Japan's policy-makers have sought to resuscitate the troubled economy by further liberalising the relationship between capital and labour while also seeking to reduce widening inequality by providing social safety nets and protection for workers. This article examines the government's labour market reforms since the late 2000s in response to these challenges. It argues that patterns of policy-making – centralised versus decentralised – have determined the political dynamics of labour market reform. More specifically, three aspects of decision-making – the role of the centralised policy-making agency, party-cabinet relations and legislative control in Diet – have explained the scope of the reform, although the reform target along the lines of employment status has affected the political process and outcome to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social inequalities obviously affect human capabilities and are undesirable from a welfare standpoint. But they may actually be useful for particular growth trajectories, by creating segmented labour markets that reduce production costs. Some patterns of growth may rely on such inequalities and thereby accentuate and perpetuate them. In extreme cases, "modernising" capitalism, instead of destroying traditional forms of social oppression and discrimination, can strengthen pre-existing social inequalities. Two examples from India illustrate this: the significance of unpaid and underpaid care work that both relies upon and reinforces gender-based inequalities; and the persistence of dehumanising forms of work such as manual scavenging and unprotected sanitation work, that rely upon caste discrimination. To avoid the most regressive and oppressive socio-cultural tendencies of the past being strengthened by the operations of capitalism, policy interventions need to reiterate the core principles of ensuring human freedom and dignity in the economic sphere as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores non-traditional student and graduate views of the university in Ireland and Portugal as it relates to their expectations of, and experiences in, the labour market. The research is based on in-depth biographical interviews with 61 non-traditional students and graduates conducted longitudinally (85 interviews in total). The article contextualises the research in relation to the expansion of higher education internationally as well as national and EU policies aimed at supporting a 'knowledge-based economy'. It offers an overview of the meaning of precarity. It then outlines key empirical findings from the research related to student expectations of their degree and their post-graduation experience in the labour market. In particular, it explores the phenomenon of precarity amongst graduates how this is experienced and handled in various ways. Using a critical and egalitarian lens the overall aim of the research is to widen the focus of widening participation debates and explore how educational and institutional initiatives impact, or not, on wider social and employment inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inequality isn’t driven by taxes—it’s driven by the power of capital in relation to workers. To reverse the rapid growth in inequality would require more rapid wage growth. Another possibility is a public wealth fund that would accumulate capital gains for workers. The Republican tax bill is likely to make matters worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult education may mitigate social inequalities during the life course by allowing educationally disadvantaged groups to catch up to their advantaged peers and thereby improve their career prospects. To challenge this idea, I analyze returns to adult education and implications for social inequality in transition economies, particularly in Russia. The results, based on longitudinal data from the Russian Education and Employment Survey, show that adult education either pays off equally for all groups or has a greater benefit for those who already occupy more advantageous positions. Accordingly, adult education does not facilitate mobility among those who need it most to improve their labor market prospects and opportunities. Moreover, in many cases, those who are least advantaged (e.g. lower educated, unskilled) appear to be effectively excluded from any positive payoffs of adult education due to their lower participation. Hence, despite the promise of adult education to lower social inequality, initial social inequalities are not offset but are often amplified through adult education in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The experience of older racial/ethnic minority workers may differ from that of their non-Hispanic White counterparts because of persistent racial/ethnic differences; however, our knowledge of older minority workers is fragmentary. Using the cumulative advantage/disadvantage framework, this study aimed to identify factors that explain older Americans’ labor market participation after age 65 and whether racial/ethnic differences exist among those factors. Using the 2004 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study data, racially separate analyses were performed to systematically compare factors by race. The results showed that factors influencing labor force participation after age 65 were indeed conditioned by race. Health and meaning of work significantly influenced non-Hispanic Whites, whereas home ownership increased the odds of working among non-Hispanic Blacks, and Latinos were concerned with health alone. The findings suggest that older ethnic minorities appear to experience a greater vulnerability to involuntary labor market exit—as opposed to personal preference or financial necessity. This racial/ethnic inequality should be understood not as sudden occurrences in old age, but as a by-product of the interplay between the individuals’ lifetime experiences and the social structures that impose cumulative advantages/disadvantages on them. Continued research will help reduce racial gaps in the next generation of older workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s rapid economic growth since the late 1980s has been accompanied by great economic and social transformations, which have resulted in a sharp increase in income inequality. This article contributes to the literature of social mobility in China by examining the impact of parental education on the education of their children. Using the 1990 and 2000 Chinese Population Censuses, we employ nonparametric estimation strategies to provide a systematic investigation of intergenerational transmission of education in urban China. We find evidence of increasing parents–children educational correlations. Our results raise concerns regarding economic inequality in urban China as high intergenerational persistence of education is expected to be a barrier to equal opportunities in children’s education attainments and their future labour market outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Indian growth process has been marked by the relative absence of structural change and the inability of faster output expansion to shift people out of low-productivity activities into higher value ones. Recent rapid growth has also been based on and resulted in growing inequalities. Private accumulation has relied upon existing social inequalities that create segmented labour markets that keep wages of certain social categories low, and on types of exclusion that allow large-scale displacement and dispossession without adequate compensation. The associated boom has required debt-driven bubbles to provide domestic demand since incomes of the masses have not risen in tandem, but such a strategy is inherently unsustainable. This growth process is now reaching the limits of its viability and is facing constraints posed by economic, social, political and environmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data for 2003-10, this study examines whether the 2007-09 recession contributed to gender equality in married mothers' and fathers' paid and unpaid work hours. Trend analysis shows that the recession narrowed the disparity in both paid and unpaid work hours, as mothers substituted paid work for unpaid work and fathers' paid work hours declined. If the jobless recovery after June 2009 is included in the recessionary period, hardship in the labor market for fathers brought greater gender equality only in paid work. Relative to mothers and in an absolute sense, fathers' paid work hours and total workload declined and their personal care and leisure time increased. These findings suggest an alternative path for moving toward equality in workloads that entails gender-equitable job creation, living wage, and work-life balance policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines disparities in access to pension and health insurance plans between white, blacks, Latino and Asian workers in the American labour force. Using data from the 2006 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey, the analysis reveals that Latino workers are the most disadvantaged and white workers are the most advantaged. The entire gap in likelihood of receiving benefits between whites and Asians, and a substantial portion of the gap between whites and blacks, can be accounted for by socio-demographic and employment-related variables, but only a small portion of the gap between whites and Latinos can be attributed to such variables. The findings suggest that reliance on earnings for estimation of inequality underestimates the economic gap between racial groups. Explanations for disparities in access to employment benefits are offered and the relevance of the findings to other societies is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes that feminist research be integrated into the field of comparative economic systems (CES) and that CES return to its traditional institutionalist methodologies to facilitate more complete analyses of economic systems and feminist alternatives to these systems and institutions. The study describes the evolution of CES, drawing attention to an increasing reliance on econometric modeling that reflects a shift in focus away from systems. An inventory of research on women and gender that has appeared in CES journals and textbooks finds little on topics other than formal labor markets in transition economies. The study contrasts this literature on women and gender in transition economies to research on this topic by women from transition economies, a literature that CES journal authors do not reference. It concludes by proposing a feminist economics approach that focuses on gender-differentiated impacts of economic systems, analyses of households, and equity as a measure of progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses long-standing normative claims that liberalism-understood as the priority of economic and political liberty, neutrality in the public sphere, the universal application of human rights, and the requirement to treat all subjects equally-is inadequate in the context of deep, migration-driven diversity. Beginning with the assumption that liberalism-as-an-integration-paradigm must be evaluated empirically, the article examines the immigration experience of two liberal states: France and the United States. Evidence from these important countries of immigration demonstrates that universal, difference-blind policies that are suspicious of claims to difference in the public sphere reduce prejudice and promote positive intra-community attitudes (France), while limited income support and dynamic labour markets promote economic integration (the United States). Far from being an inadequate relic of a simpler age, liberalism is the best framework for accommodating diverse societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using individual data from the French Labour Force Survey and the Complementary Survey on Working Conditions for 1998, we analyse earnings inequalities along the wage distribution between workers using novel Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) at their job and those not using them. We estimate quantile regressions with technological dummies and carry out a decomposition analysis, both at the aggregate level and by occupations. At the aggregate level, most of the wage gap between both populations is explained by the divergence in their labour characteristics. In jobs where ICT are not very diffused, the technological premium is larger than in jobs characterized by a large presence of novel technologies. Whereas in the former type of jobs, the technological premium is mainly justified by a divergence in the labour market characteristics between ICT users and nonusers, in positions characterized by a wide presence of novel technologies the technological premium responds rather to a divergence in the returns to identical characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender pay issues in the US labour market are examined using 1990 and 2000 US Census data for three groups: the native born, immigrants from English-speaking countries and immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. Quantile regression estimates reveal different patterns of wage effects across the wage distribution. Females have lower rates of pay across the entire wage scale. There is minimal evidence of glass ceiling effects. Immigrant women from non-English-speaking countries are argued to experience a double disadvantage effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]