undergone substantial changes. A growing percentage of workers is female, while the number of older males is declining. The number of workers with high-school and college educations has increased, and the "baby-boom" workers have aged, making the work force in general older.
A second factor is the change in the kind of work demanded. White collar jobs have increased, especially in the service and public sectors. Factory and agriculture jobs, meanwhile, have declined. Technological advances have caused an increase in the demand for educated workers, but the supply has outstripped this demand. The result has been that the quality of jobs taken by educated workers has declined. A third factor is the sharp decline in trade union membership as blue collar jobs declined. A fourth factor influencing employment is the imposition of equal opportunity and affirmative action legislation, occupational safety and health acts, and the computerizatio
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