Annotation There is a widespread perception that the structural reforms implemented in Latin America in the 1990s have failed to spur employment growth. This perception is fueled by rising unemployment, slow wage growth, rising wage inequalities and a heightened sense of economic insecurity. This year's edition of Economic and Social Progress in Latin America investigates whether this disappointing outcome can be explained by an abnormal adjustment to rapid changes in goods and capital markets, increased female participation in the workplace, technological change, and secular changes in the sector composition of output. In particular, the book examines whether there are important demands for change that are being thwarted by inappropriate institutions and rigidities. The report documents unemployment and underemployment, employment creation and destruction, productivity growth, and the wage level and inequality. It includes a CD-ROM with data on labor markets in the region.

Good Ideas for Good Teachers Who Want Good Jobs by Gerald Haigh contains everything teachers need to know about interviews, jobs and career progression. Packed with advice for all educational professionals, this invaluable guide originated as the Jobs and Interviews Pocketbook (published by Teachers' Pocketbooks) and has been expanded and updated with even more hints, tips and words of wisdom. With specific advice on teaching (both primary and secondary) and leadership roles (including headship, joining the senior leadership team (SLT) and becoming a middle leader), this good guide should be on every good professional's bookshelf.

In many Western societies there is concern that children from less advantaged social backgrounds have limited aspirations, and are disproportionately unlikely to go to university. Children's Lives, Children's Futures explores how children in their first year of secondary school feel about school, its place in their lives and its role in their futures. The authors use child voice to look at the ways in which children are active constructors of their lives, and the implications this has for the alignment between education and ambition. The authors explore the nature of children's engagement with education, the choices and constraints they experience and the reasons some young people fail to take advantage of educational opportunities.

This study examines the impact of higher educational attainment on the changing lives of women, both at the individual and the societal level. The study focusses on the cross-cultural contexts in one of the states in South India and the Netherlands. Karnataka in the recent times is experiencing fertility transition while the Netherlands has already achieved fertility transition. The two cultural contexts are both diverse and unique in character. The author explores both the uniqueness as well as the similarities, hence studying the impact of higher education on the changing lives of women as a continuum across cultures and societies. Changes at the individual level are captured by distinguishing women into older and younger generations, while changes at the societal level are captured through social change. At the individual level, we distinguish between the 'lived' life course and the 'perceived' life course. At the societal level we focus on how higher educational attainment has enhanced women's position in the society. The study uses secondary data from the National Family Health Survey (1998-1999) for the state of Karnataka and the Netherlands Family Fertility Survey (OG 98). In addition to the secondary data, in-depth interviews were also conducted amongst women in Bangalore and Groningen.