All I Want Is a Job! Unemployed Women Navigating the Public Workforce System

167 Pages·2014·4.347 MB·English

by  Mary Gatta

ALL I WANT IS A JOB!

ALL I WANT
IS A
JOB!
Unemployed Women Navigating
the Public Workforce System
MARY GATTA
STANFORD ECONOMICS AND FINANCE
An Imprint of Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
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Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gatta, Mary Lizabeth, 1972- author.
All I want is a job! : unemployed women navigating the public workforce system /
Mary Gatta.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8047-8133-6 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8047-9082-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Unemployed women workers—Services for—United States. 2. Women—
Employment—United States. 3. Occupational training for women—United States.
4.  Manpower policy—United States. I. Title.
HD6095.G38 2014
331.4'1370973—dc23
2013047793
ISBN 978-0-8047-9085-7 (electronic)
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10.5/15 Adobe Garamond
This book is dedicated to two special women:
My mother—Maria Gatta—a wonderful role model
who dedicated her life to public and volunteer
service during her short time on earth
Her business partner and friend—Dee Frankel—who continues
to share my mother’s values and spirit with me every day
Cheers to you both!

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. Navigating the Workforce System 35
2. On the Front Line During a Recession 69
3. Understanding the Backstory of
Workforce and Welfare Policy 101
4. Charting a Course Forward 117
Notes 133
Index 147

Preface
This book emerged from my deep wish to better understand how
women were faring as they navigated the workforce development sys-
tem during the recent economic recession. Researching women’s expe-
riences in the workforce development system is not new to me. I had
studied the New Jersey workforce system in the early 2000s as part of an
evaluation of an innovative state Department of Labor and Workforce
Development pilot program that gave the state workforce development
system the latitude to implement a technology-enabled online learning
program that provided education and training to a group that often
did not receive it via the workforce system—working single mothers
who were employed but not economically secure. The women in this
program received computers, Internet access, and courses for a year
to attain the education and skills to help them advance in the work-
place. This project and research was very exciting to me in that it took a
group of marginalized workers and helped them gain skills, certificates,
and degrees in ways that were flexible and could be delivered in their
homes. They were able to schedule their classes around their work and
family responsibilities in an asynchronous learning environment. And
the program did not just include access to education. The women also
were placed with mentors and received individualized career counseling.
Many of the women in the program saw a wage increase, completed
their education, and gained self-confidence. They left the program ex-
cited about their ability to support themselves and their families and
better assured they were on the road to economic security.1