Waubonsee Community College

Working scared (or not at all), the lost decade, great recession, and restoring the shattered American dream, Carl E. Van Horn

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Working scared (or not at all)

bibliography

811600975

Carl E. Van Horn

the lost decade, great recession, and restoring the shattered American dream

"Work Scared draws on nearly twenty-five thousand interviews with employed and unemployed Americans conducted from 1998 to 2012. These voices of American workers tell a compelling story about wrenching structural changes and recessions during one of the most volatile periods in U.S. economic history. This book represents one of the most comprehensive social science research portraits of the views of American workers about their jobs, the workplace, and government's role in the labor market. Working Sacred will help citizens, policy makers, educators, businesses, unions, and community leaders betters understand what is happening to the U.S. workforce. It also describes the essential national priorities and policies that will assist frustrated, angry, and scared American workers and the reforms that will help restore the American dream of secure employment and intergenerational progress."--Jacket

Working scared in America and the great recession : the "Hurricane Katrina" of recessions -- The sudden collapse and painful aftermath -- Did unemployed workers recover? -- A silent mental health epidemic -- Bitter legacies -- Is the American worker disposable? : what happened to the employer/employee compact? -- Four forces downsizing the American worker -- Education and training gaps -- Transforming American attitudes -- New American workplace realities : Declining satisfaction at work -- The work-family imbalance -- Learning at work -- An unhealthy insurance trend -- A workplace divided -- A workforce in transition -- Misery and bleak expectations for older unemployed workers : Last fired, never rehired -- The devastating consequences of long-term unemployment -- Ending retirement as we knew it -- What older workers need -- Not so golden years -- Unfulfilled expectations for recent college and high school graduates : Hit hard by the Great Recession -- More grinders than slackers -- Are high school and college graduates prepared for work? -- Does education serve the needs of employers? How much should it? -- Next-generation education reforms -- Unfinished business: recovering from the Great Recession : Bold actions battle the financial crisis -- A painfully slow recovery yields disappointment -- Policy gridlock -- Election-year policy and politics -- Frustration and protest -- Digging out of the ditch -- Bolster and refocus the workforce development system -- Shifting to top gear -- Restoring the shattered dreams of American workers : A new workforce paradigm -- Assumptions, expectations, and hopes -- Four national priorities -- Restoring balance and shared sacrifice to achieve greater prosperity -- Appendix: Work trends: Americans' attitudes about work, employers, and government, 1998-2012