When Do They Settle Down?
Young People in the U.S. Labor Market
This research brief describes work documented in The Transition to Stable Employment: The Experience of U.S. Youth in Their Early Labor Market Career (MR-564-NCRVE/UCB/LE).
Excerpt: What happens when young people leave high school and enter the labor force? There is a widely held perception that American high school graduates "mill about," holding many jobs and not settling into stable employment until their mid-to-late twenties. This early-career instability raises policy concerns about lost training and productivity: Supposedly, leaving a job courts risk of unemployment, job leavers lose the firm-specific skills they have developed, and high turnover discourages firms from training young people. Despite the certainty implied by a proliferation of school-to-work programs, this perception is not based on empirical evidence, and research results are contradictory.
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Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Web-Only
- Document Number: RB-8012
- Year: 1995
- Series: Research Briefs
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