Building Family Economic Success: Workforce Development

Just Scraping By

One in four working families in America—home to 20 million children—earned less than twice the official poverty level in 2002.

A Stubborn Ceiling

Only 27% of workers earning less than $12,000 a year from 1993 to 1995 were consistently earning $15,000-plus six years later.

The Difference a Degree Makes

In the last 30 years, wages for workers without a high school degree fell 18.5% while employees with a college degree saw their earnings rise 15.9%.

Two-Part Problem

Efforts to enhance career development for low-wage workers must address two key issues: 1) The growing prevalence of jobs that do not pay family-sustaining wages; 2) The need to expand skill sets so that these workers can compete for higher wage jobs.

Field Tips

Lessons learned from Casey’s Jobs Initiative include: 1) Long-term retention (12-plus months of steady work) is a critical measure of success; 2) Data is a must-have for strengthening program and policy outcomes; 3) Local agencies can be invaluable in orchestrating collaborations and spearheading effective workforce development programs.

Casey in Action

Beyond sharing lessons from its Jobs Initiative, Casey’s efforts to aid low-wage workers include creating career advancement models for this population and developing workforce strategies to benefit specific neighborhoods and groups.