Who's Not Working and Why: Employment, Cognitive Skills, Wages, and the Changing U.S. Labor Market

Presenting a radically different view of the operations of the labor market, Professors Pryor and Schaffer explain the growing inequality in wages over the last quarter century and how those with the least education are being squeezed out of the labor market. Why have wages in those jobs requiring extra-high cognitive skills risen while all other wages have stagnated or fallen? And why are more university graduates taking high-school jobs? The authors of this volume present data revealing that jobs which require a high educational level are increasing more slowly than those with somewhat lower requirements. However such jobs are increasing faster than those requiring still less formal education. Professors Pryor and Schaffer also show how women are replacing men in jobs which require higher levels of education and, moreover, how those with high cognitive skills are replacing those with lower cognitive skills.

Frederic L. Pryor is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Swarthmore College David L. Schaffer is on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.