The Benefits and Risks of Adolescent Employment

Much controversy surrounds the consequences of adolescent paid work, with researchers coming to diverse conclusions about whether work is good, work is bad, work doesn't matter (the purported effects of employment are spurious, dependent on processes of selection), and work matters for some youth but not others, depending on their prior backgrounds and attributes and the contexts of their employment. This article summarizes findings from the Youth Development Study, a long-term, ongoing longitudinal study that has followed a community-based panel from middle adolescence through early adulthood. The findings address this debate and support the final perspective-that the effects of teen employment on the successful transition to adulthood depend on its patterning through the years of high school (most invested, steady, sporadic, and occasional employment patterns) and its quality. Moreover, the YDS shows that patterns of teenage employment are linked to the social origins and motivations of youth upon entry to high school, and suggest that teenagers exercise agency as they build human capital during high school through education and work experience. The article concludes with a discussion of what parents, counselors, and others can do to help children make sound employment-related decisions during adolescence so as to assure effective career exploration and a successful school-to-work transition.