ABSTRACT
An important and indispensable requirement for improving the economic status of the urban poor is to increase the quality and quantity of their participation in the labor market. Increased labor market participation will generate increased income and contribute to an improvement in the standard of living of the economically disadvantaged. In pursuing the employment and training option, the main strategy has been to target resources toward services for specific groups. There are four major program groups: employability development for youth; adult training programs; welfare-to-work programs; and direct job creation. In contrast to the oft-repeated claim that nothing works, the social science evidence tells a great deal about both the opportunities and the limitations of the employment and training solution to the problem of urban poverty. The persistence of urban poverty and the presence of economically disadvantaged families in our cities is a continuing challenge to national aspirations for equal opportunity and economic justice.
