The Scope of the Grants Economy and Income Distribution: An Examination of Intergenerational Transfers of Income

A bstract . Private transfers of income between family members have had significant equalizing effects on the distribution of income in the United States but only recently have they become a subject of research and an element of analysis. Some of the major theoretical developments in the area of income distribution and intergenerational mobility in the rich literature of the grants economy are reviewed. Among the effects of family transfers on income distribution, the most critical considerations in intra-family transfers, tentative results indicate, are those that relate, directly or indirectly, to investments in children during their formative years. Estimates of the size of family transfers include one that in a single year their total was of the magnitude of 30.7 percent of gross national product and another that in 1980 they were 70 percent of total transfers, amounting at least to 1 trillion. Trends in their level and structure are projected.     

Academic Achievement and Part-Time Employment of High School Students

Two-stage least squares estimation is used to show that modest levels of part-time employment by high school students may not interfere with student academic performance.     

Some Alternative Definitions of Youth Unemployment: A Means for Improved Understanding and Policy Formulation

Abstract . Current definitions of unemployment are inadequate for analyzing and understanding the problem of youth unemployment in the United States. By focusing on alternative definitions of youth unemployment, this study seeks to better understand the nature of the problem. Alternative rates of unemployment using data disaggregated by age, race, and gender from 1971 to 1983 are presented. Some findings: (1) all of the rates taken together provide a much better understanding of the youth unemployment problem; and (2) more effort should be devoted to developing, analyzing, and applying alternative concepts of satisfactory or unsatisfactory status for young people. Further, detailed studies of the activities, needs, and goals of a diverse population of young people and of societal preferences are clearly warranted. Without such efforts, youth unemployment policies will most likely be misdirected.