Shutdown in Youngstown: Public Policy for Mass Unemployment

In spite of the gravity of the problem of mass unemployment and its periodic recurrence in industrial societies, few scientific studies have been undertaken which serve to define the impact of plant closings on workers, families, and the community; to evaluate individual group, or community responses to closings; and to offer suggestions for the future. Shutdown at Youngstown meets this need. It presents the findings of a multidisciplinary, scientific study of the closing of the steel mills in Youngstown in 1977 which put 5,000 persons out of work. Research reported in the text is based on personal interviews, social indicator data, and data from health and human service agencies. The authors conclude by developing a public policy for dealing with plant closings and the crisis of mass unemployment.