Public Training Programs

Most job training in the United States is privately funded, but low-income workers and disadvantaged youth rely heavily on publicly funded programs.

These include the Workforce Investment Act (WIA, reauthorized in 2014 as the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act), and its predecessors, the Job Training Partnership Act and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.

During the Great Recession, WIA received more money to provide training for adults, especially laid-off workers and the long-term unemployed, and youth. Upjohn researchers have tracked the effects of the additional funds.