Employment and Labor Policy

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The goal of this concentration is to provide students with the ability to analyze and evaluate regulation of the labor market, understand the current regulatory framework and the key forces that have shaped it, and to increase awareness of likely trends in labor market public policy.  Campus resources include not only faculty of Public Policy, Urban Planning and Social Welfare, but the UC Institute for Labor and Employment [6], UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations [7] and the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education [8] and Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies [9].  The UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education [10] also provides students an opportunity to complete a minor in labor and the workplace.

Overview

Because most people depend upon it for their livelihood, employment is the key economic relationship. But that relationship is being transformed, with important consequences for society, the economy, and public policy. Concerns have arisen over corporate restructuring, downsizing, and the increased use of contingent, rather than career, forms of employment. Growth in wage inequality has sparked widespread debate about causes and potential remedies. The goal of the Employment and Labor concentration is to provide students with the ability to analyze and evaluate regulation of the labor market, understand the current regulatory framework and the key forces that have shaped it, and to appreciate likely trends in labor market public policy.Employment and Labor courses include: