Here’s something you don’t see every day: a recent Aspen Institute report looks at the impact of job training programs on low-skilled and low-income workers – but this time, it’s from their own perspectives. The report captures participants’ sense of how programs affected their families, community interactions, and self-esteem, and what challenges to success and stability remain. Among the continued struggles were finding affordable child care, medical care, and transportation and balancing the demands of work and family life, typically with little job flexibility or leave.

Low-income students who drop out—or are pushed out—of school without a high school diploma face long odds in their search for a path to a successful and stable adult life. In Birmingham, Ala., a former public school teacher is waging a fierce campaign to give such students a second chance. Gin Phillips reports on the World of Opportunity School.

Are state officials putting their money—and their measurements—where their mouths are when it comes to boosting postsecondary education among residents? This 50-state survey from Jobs for the Future finds that fewer than half of states specify measurable goals for increasing the proportion of their population with a postsecondary degree. Even those that do may not be doing enough to reach out to the public, and in particular under-represented populations, to promote an agenda of increased education, and to connect people to programs to make it possible to enroll and finish. The report concludes with concrete policy goals for states.

Ways to Work provides small, low-interest loans to working poor families (sponsored by the Alliance for Children and Families). Find out more about how they’re serving low-income families.

The research on Jobs-Plus found that this employment program substantially increased earnings of residents in some of the nation’s poorest urban public housing developments. Now you can see what these results look like in a short video by Jim Riccio. director of the research.

Based on a September 2005 forum sponsored by Jobs for the Future that brought together business, government, and education leaders, this agenda defines specific steps to connect more young people and adults to better education and better careers. Steps include creating rigorous post-secondary learning and skills training options for young people and nontraditional adult students, and financing a workforce training system that meets the needs of high-quality employers and business sectors.

In this sequel to his well-known book, The Truly Disadvantaged, William Julius Wilson continues his examination of urban poverty. Based on extensive research and surveys, he concludes that structural social problems, especially joblessness, and the legacies of racial segregation, have worsened the plight of inner-city residents. Wilson closes with short- and long-term policy recommendatio

Some 274,000 jobs were created in April 2005, substantially more than experts had predicted. Still, younger workers are struggling amidst less-than-encouraging employment rates. A March 2005 report from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University found that the teenage employment rate in the first 11 months of 2004—just 36.3 percent—was the lowest it has ever been since the federal government began tracking teenage employment in 1948. Young people ages 20-24 didn't fare a whole lot better, either.

WAVE's mission is to motivate youth to complete school, lead productive lives, and make a valuable contribution to their communities. WAVE provides teachers and youth development professionals in schools and community organizations with adaptable teaching strategies and tools that ensure both youth professionals and young people succeed. Our programs use comprehensive methods that include training, experiential curriculum, community service initiatives, and on-site support.

The mission of A.B.L.E. Families is to confront the systemic causes of poverty by supporting families as they make positive changes in their lives.