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CHAPTER 5
EMPLOYMENT
Five factors were examined to assess employment experience: current work status, work history, job skills, job readiness, and current need for employment services. Figure 5.A presents findings of the percent of women who worked within three months prior to study recruitment. Significantly more non-affected women (42%) worked as compared to substance abusing women (10%).
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| [D] |
Figure 5.B presents findings on employment patterns during the past three years. About four in five substance abusers (81%) reported no work as the typical pattern of employment and only 10% reported being employed full-time for a majority of that period. Women in the non-affected sample reported significantly higher rates of employment with 55% reporting no work as the typical pattern of employment and 28% reporting working full-time for a majority of that period.
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| [D] |
Figure 5.C presents findings on prior employment at some point in the past. The overwhelming majority of women in both samples reported working at some point and about two of three substance abusers (69%) and non-affected women (62%) reported working full-time for at least one year. There were no significant differences between samples for these indicators.
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| [D] |
Figure 5.D presents findings on job skills as assessed by the Hollingshead Socioeconomic Scale (Hollingshead, 1975). Over half of substance abusing women (52%) reported no job skills and 19% reported having experience with skilled labor. Significantly fewer percent (29%) of women in the non-affected sample reported having no job skills.
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| [D] |
In order to more fully assess job readiness, we created an index that combined education and job skills deficits. Low education was defined as not having a high school diploma. Low job skills were defined as having no identified labor market skills. Figure 5.E presents findings on job readiness. Almost half (45%) of the substance abusers had both deficits suggesting that low job readiness would be a significant barrier to employability. Only 16% of substance abusers had both completed high school and had some job skills. Women in the non-affected sample were rated as significantly higher on job readiness. About 28% had education and job skills deficits and 37% had completed high school and had job skills.
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| [D] |
Figure 5.F reports findings on need for employment services. About 79% of the substance abuse sample required employment services. Significantly fewer (29%) of non-affected women required employment services.
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| [D] |
Overall, the overwhelming majority of women in the substance abuse sample reported little work experience in recent past. Almost half had no high school diploma nor job skills, although the overwhelming majority did report a period of stable employment at some point in their lives. Women in the non-affected group reported significantly more work experience. Almost half reported working in the last three months and 37% had both graduated high school and had some job skills.
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