Health in Early Adolescence and Paid Employment

This study examines the relationship between health and adolescent employment. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Child Development Supplement and Transition into Adulthood Supplement, we examine a cohort of 2,925 youth who were followed from childhood into adolescence. We focus on two outcomes measured when sample members were ages 16, 17, and 18: employment status and average weekly hours worked. With these data, we test the hypothesis that youth with health conditions will be less likely to work and if they do work, they work fewer hours a week. We find mixed support for this hypothesis. Youth with sensory limitations, developmental disabilities, and externalizing problem behaviors are less likely to work than their peers without these conditions. However, conditional on being employed, youth with externalizing problem behaviors and ADHD work more hours a week than their peers without those conditions.

Antecedents and Correlates of Adolescent Employment: Race as a Moderator of Psychological Predictors

Adolescent employment during high school has become the norm in the United States, but studies of associated outcomes have yielded mixed results. These discrepant findings may be partly attributable to study methods, including differences in how adolescent employment is measured and how selection factors are taken into account. The present study, based on data from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, aims to continue untangling these complexities by (a) examining whether the strength of theoretical predictors varies when predictors are assessed in a comprehensive model that simultaneously controls several psychological, family, and community factors; (b) determining whether the strength of predictors varies depending on how adolescent employment is measured (work status, work duration, and work intensity); and (c) assessing whether race moderates some of these relationships. Results indicate differences in how each predictor is related to each dimension of adolescent employment, as well as a moderating effect of race on the relationship between educational expectations and number of hours adolescents worked each week.