Working mothers in federal service spend about 20 min per day less on caregiving activities, compared to their counterparts in the private sector. This result holds regardless of the type of job they hold, their educational attainment, marital status, the number and ages of their children, or the employment status of their spouse. This is an important result to federal agency recruitment, which targets a similar labor pool as does the private sector. It is also important to the retention of human capital in federal government, which has sought to establish a reputation as a model employer through the development and implementation of family-friendly workplace programs and a culture that supports overall worklife balance. However, mothers in federal service spend more time at work compared to their counterparts in the private sector, which prompts one to wonder whether less caregiving time and more work time is true balance.

The Senate introduced a landmark comprehensive immigration reform bill last month that has the potential to both increase the number of available H-1B visas for skilled foreigners working in specialty occupations and shift the U.S. employment-based visa system to a more merit-based scheme that favors science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers. As the Congressional process moves forward, debate continues over the role of immigrants in the U.S. labor market. Focusing on demand-side arguments, businesses say they cannot find the skills they need from the domestic labor pool and need access to a global pool of skilled workers. On the other hand, some analysts have argued that there are plenty of U.S. native-born workers who can do these jobs. Such positions fit into a broader literature analyzing whether or not there is a sufficient supply of STEM workers to meet employer demands and foster innovation. This article examines new and rarely-used metrics on the supply and demand for STEM occupations in an effort to inform public policy and better understand the market for STEM workers and H-1B visas.

This chapter surveys the evidence of the long-run effects of immigration on the destination economy. We specifically discuss the most recent literature on how immigration affects domestic migration by native workers, the demand for domestic production and, hence, domestic labor, the industrial mix, and producers’ choice of technology. Studies on how immigration affects product demand conclude that the broader long-term reactions to immigration imply that immigration is likely to have positive welfare effects and certainly no strong negative effects. However, evidence on other potential long-run adjustment responses is more complex.

The economic crisis contributed to sharp increases in US unemployment rates for all three of the major socio-economic classes. Results from regression models using individual-level data from the 2006-2011 US Current Population Surveys indicate that members of the Creative Class had a lower probability of being unemployed over this period than individuals in the Service and Working Classes and that the impact of having a creative occupation became more beneficial in the 2 years following the recession. These patterns, if they continue, are suggestive of a structural change occurring in the US economy one that favours knowledge-based creative activities.

The first chapter explores the role of income in the decision of native-born indi- viduals to enroll in college when the local labor market is affected by inflows of immi- grant labor. I develop a unified theory of the decision to acquire schooling taking into account that immigration influences both the returns to education and income avail- able to finance this decision. In addition I theoretically show how household income affects the impact of immigration on natives’ college enrollment decisions. Using U.S. Census microdata from 1970 to 2000, I empirically investigate these predictions. I correct for possible non-random selection of immigrants into labor and geographic markets. I find evidence of a positive relationship between relatively unskilled migra- tion and native college enrollment for individuals who come from poorer households and of a negative one for individuals from richer households. The results vary by age and race as they are most pronounced for young natives and African-American and Caucasian natives. In the second chapter using a unique household level dataset that allows us to draw comparisons between 30 transition economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia my co-authors and I assess potential gains from various types of mobility to those who are currently immobile. We also identify proportion of current immobility that can be explained by lack of economic incentives. This proportion varies signifi- cantly across the regions but can be as high as 92 percent for countries in the former Yugoslavia region. To further strengthen our results and identify the direction of the potential selection bias we employ an instrumental variable that exploits unique nature of privatization of real estate in transition countries. We find evidence of pos- sible negative self-selection into mobility for in countries that belong to the region of extended Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Lastly, having data on house- hold expenditures we adjust the income for cost of living to control for increases in nominal versus real income. When latter measure is used gains to certain types of mobility, in particular relocation to urban areas, are significantly deflated.

Background: Knowledge of risk factors for development of hypertension in elderly may contribute to prevention and screening efforts. Currently, it is unclear whether veteran status can be considered as a risk factor for hypertension in elderly population. In this study, we compared the prevalence of hypertension in elderly veterans and non-veterans. Methods: The Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS) is a harmonized dataset for the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Using the IHIS 1997-2010 dataset, population-based prevalence of hypertension among elderly veterans (age ≥ 65) was compared to non-veterans. Veteran status was defined as a positive answer to the question, “Have you ever been honorably discharged from active duty in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Crops, or Coast Guard?” Diagnosis of hypertension was based on self-report. Prevalence of hypertension was calculated for veterans and non-veterans. Sampling weights that adjust for the complex design of the NHIS were applied in all analyses presented. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.0. Results: Overall 55.0% of elderly veterans reported to have hypertension compared to 57.5% of non-veteran civilians. (Rao-Scott chi square, p<.0001). The prevalence of hypertension was higher among veterans (54.9% vs. 51.6%, p<.0001) in men, but in women the prevalence was higher among non-veterans (59.0% vs. 57.1%, p=0.4). After adjusting for age, race, marital status, poverty level, Body Mass Index (BMI), education, smoking, and alcohol drinking status, elderly veterans showed 20% increased (OR 1.2, CI 1.1-1.3) risk for hypertension. Further stratified by gender, both in men and women the risk was increased by 10% with statistical significance. Conclusion: Overall the prevalence of hypertension was higher in non-veteran group. However, the logistic regression model revealed that history of being enrolled in military may have a lasting effect on the health of seniors.

Transportation improvements in the nineteenth century loom large in the historiography of the profession during the twentieth century. This article describes the ongoing construction of a historical geographic information systems (GIS) transportation database designed to provide new insights into the impact of the transportation and communications revolution in the continental United States by providing evidence on the spatial dimensions of those changes over time. It also reviews some preliminary findings and reinterpretations based upon these data.

We use the National Agricultural Worker Survey to investigate how recession generally, and the 2008-09 Great Recession particularly, affected the U.S. agricultural labor market. Our results suggest that hourly wages and fringe benefits became higher during the Great Recession in contrast to previous recessions (and comparison industries), though increases were less for unauthorized immigrants. We also find that weekly hours for unauthorized workers and wage dispersion significantly increased during the Great Recession and relate our findings to a decrease in immigrant labor supply and a low price elasticity of agricultural commodities, and discuss implications for recent agricultural labor policy proposals.

We quantify the contribution of women's labor force attachment to the declining trend ininterstate migration. Using CPS and SIPP data, we rst document that for families in whichboth spouses have similar incomes, the propensity to migrate is signi cantly lower than forfamilies with unequal spousal earnings. We construct a labor search model in which householdsmake location, marriage, and divorce decisions. We calibrate the model to match aggregate U.S.statistics on mobility, marriage and labor ows and use it to quantify the e ect of a fall in thegender wage gap on interstate migration. Narrowing the gender wage gap increases women'scontribution to total family income; it induces a higher share of families with both spousesworking and more couples with similar incomes. Our model predicts that the observed changein the gender wage gap accounts for 35% of the drop in family migration since 1981.

Immigration to Hawaii between 1868 and 1924 transformed its ethnic structure and population size. We investigate whether high Chinese, Japanese, and White sex ratios resources to daughters. Using IPUMS samples from the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Territorial Censuses of Hawaii, regression analysis suggests that both daughters and sons reduced mother labor force participation (LFP), but LFP effects are larger for a daughter than a son at some age intervals. Daughters have no effects on father LFP but for some age intervals a son has a positive effect on fathers LFP.

This dissertation looks at three aspects of inequality within labor markets: wage inequality, intergenerational economic mobility, and inequality in higher education between sexes. The first chapter examines the contribution of offshoring to the relative decline in the wages paid to middle skilled workers. Within a task based model of production, I develop a theoretical framework that demonstrates how increased offshoring is consistent with a decline in domestic employment and a reduction in the wages paid to workers in middle skilled occupations. I test these predictions empirically using a proxy measure of offshoring. I find that industries which engage in offshoring see their domestic employment decline over time and have a wider gap between the wages of their middle and high skilled workers. Current levels of industry offshoring are significantly correlated with an industry’s lagged occupational composition. Both material and service offshoring decrease with the share of manual occupations and service offshoring increases with the share of routine occupations. Chapter two estimates the magnitude of the intergenerational . . .

How consequential is family socioeconomic status for maintaining plans to get a bachelors degree during the transition to adulthood? This article examines persistence and change in educational expectations, focusing on the extent to which family socioeconomic status shapes overtime trajectories of bachelors degree expectations, how the influence involves the timing of family formation and full-time work versus college attendance, and how persistence in expectations is consequential for getting a four-year degree. The findings, based on the high school senior classes of 1987-1990, demonstrate that adolescents from higher socioeconomic status families are much more likely to hold onto their expectations to earn four-year degrees, both in the early years after high school and, for those who do not earn degrees within that period, on through their twenties. These more persistent expectations in young adulthood, more so than adolescent expectations, help explain the greater success of young people from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds in earning a four-year degree. Persistence of expectations to earn a bachelors degree in the years after high school is shaped by stratified pathways of school, work, and family roles in the transition to adulthood.

Despite the rapid growth in the numbers of new Eastern Europeans in the United States, very little is known about this immigrant population. There is no published systematic study of their adaptation to American life. Using the latest nationally representative quantitative data, this dissertation attempts to fill this gap in the literature by systematically examining the cultural, socioeconomic, structural, and political adaptation of post-1991 Eastern European immigrants in the United States. Two research questions will guide this study. First, to what extent do post-1991 Eastern European immigrants in the United States adapt culturally, socioeconomically, structurally, and politically to American life? Second, what are the major determinants of cultural, socioeconomic, structural, and political adaptation of post-1991 Eastern European immigrants in the United States? This dissertation is the first comprehensive study of the adaptation experience of post-1991 Eastern European immigrants in the United States. The study contributes to the field by simultaneously examining the cultural, socioeconomic, structural, and political adaptation of these new immigrants. In addition to an important methodological contribution and policy implications, the project reviews contesting perspectives of immigrant adaptation and develops a theoretical base for understanding Eastern European immigration. Since different Eastern European groups adapt to their new lives in the United States differently, their adaptation experiences can be best explained by different theoretical frameworks.</DISS_para> Data from the Department of Homeland Security were used to describe the recent trends and patterns of immigration from Eastern Europe to the United States. The 2006-2010 American Community Survey (ACS), the 2008-2010 Civic Engagement Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CES-CPS), and the 2002-2010 Voting and Registration Supplement of the Current Population Survey (VRS-CPS) collected by the U.S. Bureau of the Census were used to address aspects of cultural, socioeconomic, structural, and political adaptation of new Eastern European immigrants. Ordinary least squares regression and logistic regression were used to test the hypotheses. The results show that new Eastern European immigrants have achieved a relatively high degree of English proficiency, and being recent immigrants, they have a higher likelihood of retaining their native language than other immigrant groups. Overall, new Eastern European immigrants tend to be highly educated and professional, but their average personal income is surprisingly low. Participation in civic organizations and neighborhood interaction of new Eastern European immigrants is somewhat limited, indicating that a relatively high degree of cultural and socioeconomic adaptation might not result in better structural adaptation for these immigrants. The naturalization rate among new Eastern European immigrants is comparable to that of American immigrants in general, but it is lower than the naturalization rate among other European and Asian immigrants. Voting behavior of new Eastern European immigrants is similar to other American immigrants. Overall, it appears that new Eastern European immigrants adapt well culturally, socioeconomically, structurally, and politically, but there are cross-group differences in their adaptation. In addition, empirical evidence suggests that new Eastern European immigrants have become only partially assimilated in the United States, while partially maintaining their ethnic cultures. Therefore, assimilation theory has no relevance when explaining their diverse adaptation paths and experiences. However, cultural pluralism theory, revisionist assimilation theory, and segmented assimilation theory appear to be applicable to the experiences of various Eastern European groups across different adaptation dimensions. The effect of a variety of individual and country-level factors on various dimensions of adaptation was tested. Age and length of stay are among the key determinants of cultural adaptation. The degree of socioeconomic adaptation of immigrants increases with length of stay, age, and English proficiency. Married immigrants tend to adapt better socioeconomically across all measures of this adaptation dimension. Length of stay, marital status, education, and self-employment consistently increase the degree of structural adaptation among immigrants. Immigrants who reside in the United States for a longer period of time, are males, have more education, and are married tend to adapt better politically than their respective counterparts. In addition to a variety of individual factors, results show that adaptation of new Eastern European immigrants is affected by socioeconomic and political conditions in their countries of origin. Immigrants from economically stronger, ethnically homogeneous countries where political and personal freedoms are granted to the citizens tend to adapt better culturally and socioeconomically. However, immigrants originating in countries with weaker economies tend to adapt better structurally and politically than immigrants from economically more stable countries. In addition, ethnic diversity and limited political and personal freedoms in home countries facilitate immigrants` structural and political adaptation in the United States. This dissertation has important implications not only for scholars of immigration, but also for policy makers, and immigrant groups themselves. Collectively, Eastern European immigrants adapt well in the United States, but this overall trend conceals wide cross-group differences. This study will, hopefully, draw the attention of policy makers to this understudied immigrant population, and will lead to an improvement in policies and increased support for groups in need. It is hoped that the information on different dimensions of adaptation included in this dissertation may be beneficial to immigrants themselves, and help later waves of Eastern European immigrants live lives that are more meaningful.

This study analyzed the individual and joint influences of social, urban, and physical landscape characteristics on patterns of municipal water consumption at the county scale for the state of Texas using a cross-sectional research design on three distinct temporal slices (1990, 2000, and 2010). Global multiple linear regression models and measures of global and local spatial association were combined to determine which landscape characteristics significantly influenced per capita municipal water consumption at the county scale, whether or not the statistically significant landscape characteristics varied over time, and to assess the degree to which the patterns and landscape characteristics of municipal water consumption reflected spatially stationarity. Overall results suggested that the social, urbanized, and physical environments contributed significantly to the patterns of per capita municipal water consumption to varying degrees in each year. The social and urbanized environments consistently exerted the strongest influences on per capita municipal water consumption, while the physical environment was generally less important. Additionally, the social environment had the greatest cumulative influence in all three years, and the urbanized environment singly accounted for the majority of the variation in per capita municipal water consumption when the joint influences of the other statistically significant landscape characteristics were considered. Differences in the composites of significant independent variables and the magnitudes of recurring significant variables between years, suggested that time influenced the landscape characteristics of per capita municipal water consumption. The spatial analysis of municipal water consumption patterns and its landscape characteristics suggested that they both exhibited weak to moderate degrees of spatial non-stationarity in each year. Furthermore, the measures of global and local spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of the multiple linear regression models suggested that spatial processes confounded the ability of a global model to adequately explain the significant driving landscape characteristics of per capita municipal water consumption.

The perception of risk to natural hazards is a very complex topic and there are multiple factors that influence it. However, two factors have generally been overlooked. Through the use of mail-out surveys of residents in Beaufort County and Dare County, North Carolina, this research explores how risk perception varies with location and addresses how changes in the characteristics of a hurricane influence the perception of their risk to hurricanes. Location is addressed using two definitions. The first definition used the physical location of the resident (either Inner Banks or Outer Banks), while the second definition used the anticipated impacts from the hurricane (flooding, storm surge, wind damage). This created three locational factors that were tested for their association with risk perception. Hurricane Irene provides an interesting case study because of the change in track and intensity prior to landfall. Using the Chi Square Test for Association, the results show a significant difference in risk perception with location. Based on location on either the Inner Banks or Outer Banks, risk perception varies with respect to the issued advisories. Based on residing in one of the damage areas, risk perception varies with hazards associated with hurricanes. Results also show that track change and intensity change influence the perception of risk. Based on track change, Inner Banks residents believed they were at greater risk and had increases in their perceptions of personal risk. However, based on intensity change, Outer Banks residents perceived themselves to be at more risk than did Inner Banks residents. Overall, a majority of respondents believed that the track change increased the hazards associated with hurricanes, while the intensity reduction decreased them. While both location and damage area show their own associations with risk perception, combining location with damage area presents a broader picture of how risk perception varies with location.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship in the percentage of enrolled students receiving special education services to the high school graduation rates of the campus and students in sub-group (White, African American, and Hispanic) populations. Educators are faced with concerns regarding special education and high school graduation during this age of accountability. With the goal of improving educational results for all students, federal legislation mandated a decrease in the special education population while also increasing the overall high school graduation rates. Previously, special education was viewed as an escape from the accountability standards of general education. Variables for this study included the percent of enrolled students receiving special education services, percent of students who graduated, percent of student body considered economically disadvantaged, and percent of student body with high student mobility. A partial correlation was conducted to examine the relationship between the percentage of enrolled students receiving special education services and overall high school graduation rates when the percent of the student body considered economically disadvantaged and the percent of the student body with high student mobility are controlled. The results of the statistical analysis provided evidence of a weak negative relationship between the percentage of enrolled white students receiving special education services and high school graduation rates of the white student population when economically disadvantaged status and mobility are controlled. For the campus enrollment and student sub-group (African American, and Hispanic) populations, the results of the study indicated there is no relationship between enrollment in special education and high school graduation rates when economically disadvantaged status and mobility are controlled. In summary, educators are faced with the responsibility of making appropriate decisions to insure high school graduation for individual students. The results of this study may be valuable in guiding policy makers and educators as they make data driven decisions to promote high school graduation rates.

MDH partnered with the University of Minnesota to request the work of a graduate Capstone team to obtain current, reliable data to assess population size and geography of LEP communities. MDH planned to use this data to understand LEP groups in the state; to craft relevant, appropriate educational resources and health messages; and as a tool for MDH to allocate resources. The findings and recommendations related to the Capstone team's LEP data research are highlighted in the full paper. The team's analysis of current barriers to effective LEP communications, as voiced by MDH staff and community perspectives, is also included.

Americans are highly anxious about their retirement security,1 and for good reason. Private sector employers have shifted away from traditional defined benefit (DB) pensions, which provide a stable source of income that lasts through retirement and are managed by professionals. Instead, most private sector employees with workplace retirement plans must rely upon defined contribution (DC) individual investment accounts, such as 401(k) plan accounts, which were originally designed to supplementrather than replaceDB pensions. Now, the risk and much of the funding burden falls on individuals, who tend to have difficulty contributing enough on their own and who typically lack investment expertise. This shift from DB pensions to DC plans has significantly eroded the retirement readiness of Americans.

Very few women in the United States have access to family leave, and even fewer have access to leave that is paid. This is problematic given the high rates of labor force participation among women and the recent rise in the number of single-parent households, as well as the myriad of potential health and economic benefits that family leave provides to women and their children. While the United States has a federal leave policy, it is neither paid nor universal, and while many states have laws that extend the coverage and/or generosity of the federal benefit, most of these are unpaid as well. Survey data indicate that these policies have expanded coverage, however, prior research is inconclusive as to the effect of leave policies on the actual incidence of leave-taking among women. Furthermore, there has been very little research to date on the effect of paid family leave policies in the United States, mainly because these policies are relatively new. This study is the first to examine the effect of New Jersey's recently implemented Family Leave Insurance program - the second state-level policy in the country to provide partially paid family leave - on leave-taking behavior. Specifically, the study primarily examines the policy's effect on the incidence of leave-taking among employed women in the state. It also explores the effect of other factors that may influence a woman's decision to take leave following childbirth on the probability that she takes leave, including financial and non-financial concerns, her employment characteristics, the number of other children she has, and her demographic characteristics. The analysis uses March Current Population Survey data from 2007 to 2009 and 2011 to 2012 and a difference-in-difference methodology to determine the effect of the policy, using women with children under age one as the treatment group and several different control groups, including women with children under age one in other states, women with older children, women without children, and women aged forty-five and older. The study finds suggestive evidence that New Jersey's Family Leave Insurance policy has increased the incidence of leave-taking in the state.