Social Class Background and the "School to Work" Transition

Jeremy Staff, Pennsylvania State University
Jeylan T. Mortimer, University of Minnesota

In this study, we highlight the importance of “shared” school and work roles that begin in early adolescence and are more or less conducive to adult educational and occupational attainment. Drawing upon data from the Youth Development Study (n=1,010), we show how patterns of paid work in adolescence, encompassing both the intensity (hours) and the duration of employment, have lasting implications for post-secondary schooling and wage attainments.