Improving the Experiences of Young Workers in the US and Canada: An Interdisciplinary Educational Program

Details

• Personal Author:
  Lewko R ; Rauscher, Kimberly ; Runyan C
• Description:
  Introduction: Working for pay, either after school or during the summer, is a usual part of teenage life throughout the US and Canada, with up to 80 percent of teens working at some point prior to high school graduation. While most youth under age 18 work in the retail or service sectors, others are employed in manufacturing, construction, and agriculture. Young adults (age 18-24) are employed in an even wider variety of settings. Though child labor laws are designed to protect young workers age 14-17, employers often violate the laws and enforcement is limited. Method: Engaging with multidisciplinary groups of scholars and practitioners, this project facilitated participants' abilities to more clearly integrate the expertise from disciplines of public health, child development, sociology, and organizational psychology and to consider how to improve dissemination efforts. The series of educational sessions is as follows: Session 1: Youth Employment in Developmental Context; Session 2: The Youth Labor Experience: Benefits, Risks and Policy; Session 3: Youth Work Evidence-based Interventions and Knowledge Mobilization; Session 4: Setting the Agenda for Research, Policy and Program Development. Each multidisciplinary session followed a common format, with invited white papers defining the state of research/evidence base relevant to the particular theme and group discussion on identifying issues for future research and interventions. Each session had focused objectives based on pre-meeting development activities. Three to four commissioned white papers per session help organize background information and stimulate discussion at the sessions. At the sessions, authors provided a brief overview of their papers as a stimulus to discussion. Participants, a mix of junior and more seasoned scholars an practitioners, were selected based on their involvement in research related to youth employment and with a deliberate effort to include scholars who represent a diversity of disciplines. We received consultation from a Joint Organizing Group (JOG) chaired by Dr. Runyan and comprised of senior scholars who collectively represent diverse areas of expertise with interest and expertise in young workers): They were: Robert W. Blum, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health; Letitia Davis, ScD, EdM, Massachusetts Department of Public Health; John Lewko, PhD, Laurentian University; Sandra Miller, MA, Ontario Service Safety Alliance, Toronto, Ontario; Jeylan T. Mortimer, PhD, University of Minnesota; Kimberly Rauscher,ScD, West Virginia University; and Richard Volpe, PhD, University of Toronto. Results: Thirteen white papers guided the discussions in the first three sessions. The sessions were attended by a diverse array of professionals from both the US and Canada. At the end of each session, the group generated research ideas and policy suggestions that were recorded and considered progressively throughout the project. The final session focused on the recommendations derived from the prior three sessions and resulted in the generation of policy recommendations for the United States and research recommendations pertinent to both US and Canada. Conclusion: This project resulted in an important synthesis of expertise and ideas that inform next steps in progress toward protecting young workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Child Labor Education Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Age Groups Child Labor Information Dissemination Intervention Policy Worker Safety Work Experience Young Workers
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Massachusetts ; Minnesota ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-27
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058884
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2022-100295
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R25-OH-008924, 2012 Mar; :1-27
• Email:
  carol.runyan@ucdenver.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20060831
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20110228
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fa2aabfcf7b460e555d37e1af1b8ae90da4d6a4b9bfdf481bb54f366647162b3712406ee6ade976b675b52819608f8e490e3f8426c96edf25c6dadb5d4564733
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218958/cdc_218958_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 650.41 KB ]