The Effect of Family on the Job Exits of Young Adults

Abstract

This study examines the effect of family of origin and procreation on job exits for a sample of young White women and men (ages 18-24) between 1980 and 1986. Unlike much of the sociological literature that employs path analysis to examine occupational attainment at a small number of fixed points in time, this study employs event history analysis to examine family status factors and occupational attainment as dynamic processes. A competing risk model is used to estimate the effects of marriage and child status as well as socioeconomic status, age, and a set of control variables on two types of job exits: exits to school and exits for reasons other than school. For men the results indicate that marriage and children at job entry have a negative effect on both job exits to attend school and exits for reasons other than school. For women marriage and children at job entry have a negative effect on job exits to attend school but a positive effect on job exits for reasons other than school. For the most part, the effects of marriage on job exits were shown to be weaker than the effects of children. These findings suggest that despite the influx of women into the labor force during the 1980s, young women with children at job entry may have considered parenting rather than financial provision for their family to be their primary responsibility. The opposite holds true for young men.

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