WHO GETS OVER THE TRAINING HURDLE - A STUDY OF THE TRAINING EXPERIENCES OF YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN IN BRITAIN

Using longitudinal data from the British National Child Development St udy, this paper examines gender differences in the determinants of wor k-related training. The analysis covers a crucial decade in the workin g lives of this 1958 birth cohort of young men and women - the years s panning the ages of 23 to 33. Hurdle negative binomial models are used to estimate the number of work-related training events lasting at lea st three days. This approach takes into account the fact that more tha n half the men and two thirds of the women in the sample experienced n o work-related training lasting three or more days over the period 198 1 to 1991. Our analysis suggests that reliance on work-related trainin g to improve the skills of the work force will result in an increase i n the skills of the already educated, but will not improve the skills of individuals entering the labor market with relatively low levels of education.