Cohort Changes in the Transition from School to Work: Evidence from three NLS surveys

Jepsen, and an anonymous referee for comments on an earlier version of this paper. Bacolod’s work on this project was supported, in part by a University of California, Irvine Faculty Research Initiative award. This study examines the changes in the school-to-work transition in the United States over the latter part of the twentieth century and their consequences for the wages of young adults. In particular, we document the various types of work and schooling experiences acquired by youth who came to adulthood in the U.S. during the late 1960s, 1970s, and through the 1980s. We pay particular attention to how the differences across cohorts in these transitions vary by gender and race/ethnicity and how these differences affected their subsequent wage attainment