CUED
Center
for Urban Economic Development
University of Illinois at Chicago
Lathrop Homes Economic Development
Task Force Christopher House
Job Skills Survey Results
Project Number: 301
Report Date: February 1990
Author(s): Deborah Bennett, Pat Wright, Wendy Wintermute
In August 1989, the Economic Task Force of Lathrop Homes and Christopher House, a local social service agency, requested the assistance of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Center for Urban Economic Development (CUED) to help design development strategies for the Lathrop community. As part of this effort, CUED assisted the Task Force in surveying job skills of Lathrop Homes residents.
The survey was conducted between October 15 and November 30, 1989. Ten Lathrop residents administered the survey to 186 respondents. CUED staff provided three training sessions for the residents. Christopher House and Lathrop United for Resident Management provided coordination in the oversight of the survey.
The Lathrop Homes survey found that forty-five persons, nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of the 186 interviewed, were working. Of these, twenty-three reported working full-time and sixteen reported working part-time. Almost all of those employed were working in sales or service jobs. Among those unemployed, the most common previous employment, reported by twenty-six residents, was factory work.
Regardless of current employment status, residents reported many job-related skills, developed either on a job, at home, or in voluntary activities. The top twelve skills mentioned by the respondents were, for the most part, domestic work. Floor waxing, window washing, and general household cleaning were the three most frequently reported skills, all predominantly performed at home.
The top skills acquired on a job reflect primarily clerical, service, and factory work. The top three skill areas that respondents were most interested in learning were office work, computers, and bookkeeping.
Over half (55 percent) of all those interviewed were interested in being contacted about jobs that match their skills if a job bank were to be set up at Lathrop Homes.
Asked about neighborhood business needs, the most frequent responses were for a grocery store and a laundromat. If a laundromat were opened within the Lathrop Homes complex, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of those interviewed said they would use the facility. Over one-third (38 percent) said they would be interested in being part of a planning committee for a laundromat in Lathrop Homes.
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