About Workforce Development
Workforce development incorporates specific measures to improve professional and personal growth necessary for securing a stable job and ensuring financial independence. Since a majority of low-income families experience a large amount of debt, obtaining and maintaining a job is necessary and ensures financial stability. Through workforce development, low-income families are offered the opportunity to improve their education and occupation skills in order to maintain their current jobs and increase opportunities for career advancement.
Research has demonstrated that there is an ever increasing gap between educated and uneducated individuals, which further weakens the economic stability of the uneducated population. In 2007, almost one-half of all job openings required more than a high school education; in 2006, 57 percent of low-income working families were headed by parents with no post-secondary education [1]. Offering employment training programs to enhance an individual’s educational level and skills can create tremendous career opportunities and result in greater family economic success. Policymakers should help promote workforce policies that will create career advancement programs and help create opportunities for low-incomes families to achieve educational success and ensure financial stability.
The below map shows a state-by-state comparison of the percentage of low-income working families with children—defined as a families with an income less than twice the federal poverty level, with at least one parent who worked 50 or more weeks during the previous year and at least one "own child" under the age of 18. The percentage of low-income working families with children varies widely across the states—New Hampshire is the lowest (10%) and Texas and New Mexico are the highest (24%).
[1] The Workforce Alliance; Working Poor Families Project
How is workforce development linked to family economic success and economic development?
According to The Working Poor Families Project [2], America’s educational systems continue to poorly prepare workers for jobs requiring higher skills. At the same time, the economy is comprised of a larger share of low-paying jobs, with an increase of 4.7 million jobs paying a poverty-level wage from 2002 to 2006. [3]
A major challenge moving ahead will be to raise the education and skills of America’s workers to meet the needs of the changing economy. Almost one-half of all job openings require more than a high school education,[4] yet as noted in the Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, 88 million adult workers are not prepared for these positions;[5] 25 million of these adult workers lack a high school degree or its equivalent. At the same time, combined federal and state government resources for such programs as adult education or skills development serve approximately one-tenth of the need.
Additional research indicates that strong economies are characterized by an abundance of well-paying jobs; and overwhelmingly, well-paying jobs are held by individuals who have knowledge and skills obtained through education beyond high school. Simply put, human capital drives economies in the information age. [6]
From a global perspective, leadership in educational attainment has been achieved largely because those Americans now approaching retirement age are more highly educated than their counterparts in other countries. But when it comes to the younger generation, the U.S. global position has slipped considerably. The U.S. now ranks eighth among the industrialized countries of the world in the proportion of the population age 25 to 34 with at least an associate’s degree. Among the fastest-growing groups within the country’s young adult population—African-Americans and Hispanics—college attainment levels have fallen far below those required for the U.S. to remain competitive. [6]
[2] Working Poor Families Project, Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short
[3] In 2006, $9.91 is the hourly wage a full-time worker needs to meet the poverty threshold for a family of four.
[4] The Workforce Alliance, Harry Holzer and Robert Lerman, America’s Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs: Education and Training Requirements in the Next Decade and Beyond, 2007
[5] National Commission on Adult Literacy, Reach Higher America: Overcoming the Crises in the U.S. Workforce, June 2008
[6] National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, Dennis Jones and Patrick Kelly, The Emerging Policy Triangle: Economic Development, Workforce Development, and Education, May 2007
Facts about Workforce Development
- In 2006, more than one out of four working families with children—a total of 42 million adults and children—were low-income. (Working Poor Families Project)
- Income inequality among working families increased by almost 10 percent from 2002 to 2006 as indicated by the widening gap between the share of income received by the highest-earning working families and the share received by the least affluent ones. (Working Poor Families Project)
- In 2007, almost one-half of all job openings required more than a high school education; in 2006, 57 percent of low-income working families were headed by parents with no post-secondary education. (The Workforce Alliance; Working Poor Families Project)
- In 2006, more than one in five U.S. jobs, or 22 percent, was in an occupation paying wages that fall below the federal poverty threshold. In the same year, eight states—AL, AR, LA, MS, MT, NM, SD, and WV—had more than one-third of all jobs in poverty-wage occupations. (Working Poor Families Project)
- Middle-skill jobs, which require more than a high-school diploma, but less than a four-year degree, make up the largest part of America’s labor market. All too often, key industries in our country are unable to find enough sufficiently trained workers to fill these jobs. As a result, job creation and economic growth are stifled. (The Workforce Alliance)
- In a 2007 state-by-state comparison of the percentage of low-income working families with children—families with an income less than twice the federal poverty level, at least one parent who worked 50 or more weeks during the previous year, and at least one "own child" under the age of 18—New Hampshire ranked the lowest (10%) and Texas and New Mexico ranked the highest (24%). (KIDS COUNT Data Center)
Workforce Development Resources
